


Assembling the Avengers

by Takara_Phoenix



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: (these do not spark joy), Anal, Avenger Jane Foster, Avengers Family, Avengers Tower, Bottom Tony, Bucky Barnes Feels, Canon Divergent Post Avengers (2012), Explicit Sexual Content, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Not Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie) Compliant, Not Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, Oral, Parent Tony Stark, Slash, Team as Family, Tony Adopts Gwen, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark-centric, Top Bucky, also there will be sex in the final chapter so:, and likes each other?, and make them an actual team, and relies on each other, let's Marie Kondo the MCU!, spider-gwen, that trusts each other, throw everything out that doesn't spark joy, what if we take the Avengers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-09
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:54:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 24,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24090883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Takara_Phoenix/pseuds/Takara_Phoenix
Summary: Let's throw out all the miscommunication and distrust of the MCU!Avengers and assume the team took Tony up on his offer to move into Avengers Tower.They grow closer, build actual trust with each other and tackle certain events, like SHIELD's HYDRA infestation, together, as a team. Steve trusts Tony to help him track down Bucky.
Relationships: Bruce Banner/Jane Foster, Clint Barton/Natasha Romanov, Darcy Lewis/Hope Van Dyne, Happy Hogan/Pepper Potts, James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark, May Parker (Spider-Man)/James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Tony Stark & Avengers Team
Comments: 63
Kudos: 452





	1. Welcome to Avengers Tower

Avengers || WinterIron || Avengers || Assembling the Avengers || Avengers || WinterIron || Avengers

Title: Assembling the Avengers – Living at Stark Tower

Fandom: Avengers; Marvel Cinematic Universe

Disclaimer: All rights concerning the Avengers reserved to Marvel. This fanfiction on the other hand is entirely mine. No money is made with this, though reviews are more than welcomed.

Warnings: m/m, Canon Divergent Post-Avengers (2012), Team as Family, families of choice, adoption, fluff, hurt/comfort, PTSD, explicit intercourse, anal, oral, m/f, f/f

Main Pairing: Bucky/Tony

Side Pairings: Hope/Darcy, Bruce/Jane, Clint/Natasha, Rhodey/May, Happy/Pepper

Marvel Characters: Anthony 'Tony' Stark, James 'Bucky' Barnes, Steve Rogers, Bruce Banner, Clint Barton, Natasha Romanova, Thor Odinson, Jane Foster, Darcy Lewis, Hope van Dyne, James 'Rhodey' Rhodes, Sam Wilson, Sharon Carter, Harley Keener, Gwen Stacy, Miles Morales, Edward 'Ned' Leeds, Peter Parker, May Parker, Pepper Potts, Happy Hogan, Maria Hill

Summary: After the battle of New York, Tony invites the Avengers to live with him in Stark Tower. Everything evolves from there on out. Living together in the tower changes the team-dynamic, changes the fate of the Avengers and how their line-up grows differently over time.

**Assembling the Avengers**

_Living at Stark Tower_

_Chapter 1: Welcome to Avengers Tower_

Natasha and Clint had just returned from a long mission in Europe. Unfortunately, it had taken them away nearly right after the Battle of New York. No rest for the wicked. When they collapsed on a couch in an office in the carrier of SHIELD, they were _nearly_ too exhausted to even really question why Thor, Rogers and Doctor Banner were there. Hadn't the Avengers-gig been a one time thing?

"Debriefing?", asked Clint, yawning widely. "N whatcha all doin' here?"

"I think the debriefing can wait until later", missed Maria.

"I have returned from Asgard, since my brother is now safely locked away. Too many memories of our childhood, so I decided to return to Midgard", replied Thor mournfully.

"I've been... set up by SHIELD since before New York", supplied Steve.

"I've kind of been holed up in SHIELD's labs since the battle", answered Bruce sheepishly.

"So, why are we all here? Or rather, why are all of us aside from Tony here?", questioned Natasha.

The other Avengers nodded in agreement and turned toward Agent Hill inquisitively. Natasha and Clint had spend their unoccupied moments during the mission thinking about the battle and the other Avengers. How it had felt to be part of a _real_ team, not just a duo of spies, killing and finishing a mission. It had felt good, to have this kind of support and teamwork.

"Is Stark alright?", asked Steve mildly concerned.

Tony Stark may not have been what Steve would have expected as Howard's son, but in the end, he had proven to be a worthy hero and companion. So were the other Avengers. They were the kind of team Steve was comfortable leading. In a way, their ragtag team of misfits had reminded him of the Howling Commando. Part of him didn't like that his team wasn't complete right now.

"He has been buried deep in his work, I'm afraid no one aside Miss Potts has seen him in weeks", answered Maria. "Which is why I have called all of you in here. The Avengers Initiative has proven itself to the heads. Congratulations, you're officially a team now. If you're in."

"Yes", answered all of them at once, making Maria smile bemused.

"But why isn't Tony here then?", asked Bruce with a frown. "He could have freed himself from work for long enough to participate. Or is he... out of the Avengers Initiative?"

"I object!", declared Thor loudly. "He is a true warrior, like any of us. He is brave, he belongs in our team. The Avengers are not complete without Tony."

"You seem to have grown into quite the team already", mused Maria. "If you'd let me finish, instead of interrupting. Since the different members of this team are quite scattered, Mister Stark offered a... home-base. The Stark Tower has been renovated since the incident with Loki and Mister Stark formally invites all of you to stay there."

"Stay there?", asked Bruce a little stunned.

"Yes. He assures me that you will have access to labs at the tower, Doctor Banner", stated Maria and nodded. "As well as special training facilities for Miss Romanov, Mister Barton and Captain Rogers. Considering that Agent Barton currently stays in the... venting system of SHIELD and Agent Romanov is... hard to get a grip on when not on a mission, while Thor has no residence on Earth at all, Doctor Banner has no residence in the US and Captain Rogers has been living in SHIELD facilities, Mister Stark suggested that having all Avengers at Stark Tower would make team-matters far easier, as well as debriefings and emergencies."

"Stark wants us to live with him?", grunted Steve, cocking one eyebrow.

"He also assures me that all of you will have enough privacy. You won't have to share bunk-beds. Now, perhaps you'd like to take a look before you decide?", suggested Maria, grinning to herself.

Looking at it couldn't hurt so the team got up and followed Hill out and to a limo. They chatted lightly during the drive, about what Bruce had been working on (albeit no one truly understood what he was talking about), how Thor's visit with his family had been and as much about the mission Natasha and Clint had been on as could be said.

"He really rebuilt the whole tower in those two months?", hummed Clint impressed when they got out of the car and stared up the imposing building. "Looks better than before."

"We're talking about Tony Stark. He's... fast when he's determined", nodded Maria.

Maria led them inside, showed her security pass to the intimidating man behind the reception. A golden, gorgeous elevator with engravings and Iron Man on each door opened to let them in. The elevator itself was spacious enough to easily fit twice as many people in. Aside from the button-panel, there was also a complicated looking lock of sorts. Agent Hill rested her flat palm against the surface and after a short beep, a retina-scanner came forward to scan her eyes.

"Maria Hill", stated the agent slowly.

"Welcome back, Agent Hill", replied Jarvis' electronic voice.

The lid popped open as Maria removed her hand, revealing another set of buttons.

"Woah. What is that?", asked Clint and jumped a little at the sudden voice.

"Thank you, Jarvis", noted Maria and pressed the button labeled as 'Common Area'. "'That' is Jarvis, the Artificial Intelligence who controls Stark Tower. The main security system. If you have questions or require assistance, just ask for Jarvis and he will hear you."

The other Avengers peeked at the panel to see what other kind of floors there were.

Roof  
Gym & Pool  
Common Area  
Hangar & Headquarters  
Tony's Workshop  
Tony  
Bruce  
Thor  
Steve  
Clint  
Natasha

"Doctor Banner's floor also contains Doctor Banner's labs", stated Jarvis after a moment.

"Labs?", mouthed Bruce beneath his breath, blushing a little and shifting some.

"Jarvis, direct line to Mister Stark, please", requested Maria before the Avengers could argue more.

"No. No, no, no", echoed Tony's voice through the elevator all of a sudden. "I told you, Agent Hill, I don't have the time to play with SHIELD at the moment! Go and bother Cap!"

Steve's lips twitched a little at that, tilting his head some. "She already did that."

"Mh?", grunted Tony over the inter-com, sounding confused.

"I brought the others with me, Mister Stark", explained Maria. "We're on our way up. Would you care to join us, perhaps? Or don't you have time to come and play with the Avengers either?"

A short pause, followed by a shattering sound of metal. "Yes. Wait. Just a second. I... need pants."

"Behind you, sir", stated Jarvis. "I also took the liberty of adding a shirt, sir."

The elevator rose for a while longer before it stopped and the doors opened, revealing the first glimpse of Tony Stark that either of the Avengers had seen in two months. Natasha and Clint had spend a lot of time together on the mission, Thor and Steve had recently worked together too for a short mission, while all of them had occasionally seen Bruce at the SHIELD-headquarters. But Tony? Well, this was definitely an interesting view. He was wearing torn skinny-jeans, greasy and worn-out, an equally greasy wife-beater and currently he was in the middle of buttoning a white tight-cut shirt. There was also some oil smeared over his face, his hair a mess, but more so in a cute way. A sheepish grin was laying on his lips as he looked at them, all bright eyes and white teeth.

"Oh. Hey. So Hill finally got you all together?", asked Tony, still grinning.

"Friend Tony!", exclaimed Thor enthusiastically and walked over to hug Tony tightly.

The human grunted in the tight grip as he was lifted up and whirled around. Thor basically carried him into the elevator and put him down in the center of a circle of Avengers. Everyone offered Tony a kind of greeting – a smile, shoulder-pat, one-armed hug, short wave.

"Good to see all of you back in New York", smiled Tony. "And having you in my elevator, I suppose Agent Hill already told you about my... proposal then?"

"She did", nodded Steve shortly.

"Good. Saves time for me", hummed Tony. "Well, let me show you around then."

"Though would you mind sharing why exactly you came up with this idea?", continued Steve.

"Well, Natasha is hard to get a hold of, Bruce and Clint are more-or-less living at SHIELD right now, Thor's sort of homeless and you're Captain America but you live in a _ridiculously_ unsecured apartment. Really, really, really ridiculously unsecured", started Tony, talking in high-speed. "Bruce needs better labs than what SHIELD has to offer. You, Natasha and Clint surely would benefit from the private gym. A home-base for the team would be a good way of keeping in touch – I'm aware most of you will still spend most time on missions anyway. And SHIELD appreciates the idea of having all Avengers... assembled. For all of that and all of you, I figured that the building with the highest security system that can be offered would be best, to protect not just you but also your privacy. I thought that everybody would benefit from this arrangement."

"And how are you benefiting from this?", questioned Clint as they reached the top floor.

All paused for a second to take everything in. From the elevator, they had to take five steps down to be in the middle of a giant living room with a large window-front and a c-shaped couch in front of a large flat-screen, a Dolby-surround sound system and some different gaming consoles. On their left was an open kitchen and between the modern, high-tech kitchen and the living room was a long dining table, more than comfortably fitting half a dozen people.

"This elevator is private, the other elevators don't include the top-floors. The panel for the top-floors can only be accessed via voice-recognition, retina-scan and a full hand-scan", started Tony to ramble. "It's programmed to recognize all of you, me, Pepper, Happy and Rhodey. If you'd want anyone... special to gain access, feel free to inform Jarvis. Jarvis can be accessed from every room."

"You haven't answered Clint's question", stated Natasha skeptically as they walked around a little.

"Company, I guess", whispered Tony with a shrug, arms crossed over his chest.

"And now the truth, please", requested Steve, cocking one eyebrow.

"It may surprise you, Captain Rogers, but that was the truth", interrupted Agent Hill.

Tony turned away a little, facing the large windows as he felt the inquisitive eyes of the others boring into his back. "Nine days ago, Pepper poked me awake after a massive hangover. That in itself used to be a regular occurrence, but this time around... It had been the first drink I had since the battle. When I told Pepper as much and added that I had intended to keep it this way, she told me I couldn't sober up on my own from one day to the other. She's right. One of the too many reasons why I am... an alcoholic... is because the alcohol made me forget that I am alone. I know it will be a good solution for all of you and I... would like to have someone, you, around. For the company and maybe, also to keep me from buying new booze and restocking."

"You're... sobering up?", asked Bruce surprised. "How come? I'm sorry, I probably shouldn't..."

"No, no. It's fine", interrupted Tony and shook his head. "I invited you to live here, you have a right to know what mess you'd be getting into here. Because I've been called a 'liability' for the Avengers Initiative before the battle and... afterward, I realized that perhaps Fury was right. I'm a drunken playboy, that's not... safe, especially not for someone handling secrets like ours. So... I figured it would be for the best of the _team_ if I'd... change some."

"Well, if you're sobering up for the team, it's the least the team can do to stay and help", stated Natasha softly, looking around. "Now, show us those private floors."

Tony's face brightened at that and he clapped his hands once before leading the way back to the elevator, the other Avengers immediately following after, looking amused.

"Everyone has their private floor. Brucie gets a lab. A good science needs a private lab and you are beyond a good scientist, Doctor Banner", announced Tony with a light smile. "You all have control over the privacy settings of your floors. Who can access your floor. The workshop's off-limits, I'm afraid. Lots of inventions, lots of super important SI projects, all that fun stuff."

"The common area was impressive", noted Clint with a whistle.

"Naturally, you all have your own living rooms and kitchens on your own floors too", assured Tony. "But, you know, I figured something shared would be a... nice touch."

The elevator halted and they exited in what looked like the most modern gym Steve had ever seen. And he had tried _a few_ since he had been thawed – even Captain America only got away with breaking that much equipment before shamefully retreating. Natasha walked the perimeter curiously, looking at it all. Even Thor looked wildly excited.

"Naturally, everything comes with the Stark seal of approval. Reinforced reinforcements to even withstand a thundering alien and a super soldier", stated Tony with a bright smile. "If anything breaks, inform me so I can tinker and improve it. Tha—at goes for... all the things, actually."

"That sounds like a challenge", whispered Clint with a sparkle in his eyes.

"Barton", growled Natasha pointedly. "Do not thank him for his hospitality by breaking his things."

"But he _just_ said it'd give him an opportunity to improve it", whined Clint.

"Yes, it does. Don't worry about it, Barton", chuckled Tony amused.

"This is very exciting!", exclaimed Thor eagerly. "Whenever I stay in Midgard, I admittedly break... a lot of... things. I swear I don't mean to, but... the things around here are not made with Midgardian strength in mind. I'm looking forward to living here."

"Seems like a nice gig", agreed Clint with a half-grin.

"Thank you for the offer, Stark", nodded Steve.

"Please. Tony. If you're all gonna live in my tower, that's the least. Welcome to Avengers Tower!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the other day, while mindlessly zapping through channels on my TV, the 2012 Avengers was on. And I got stuck watching the second half of the movie. And I was overwhelmed with longing for that time again, back when everyone thought the team would form beautifully, become friends who could trust each other. It made me remember that back in 2014, I actually started writing a Tower Fic. And, well, then Age of Ultron happened and after that Civil War and with that, the fic got buried deep, deep in my folder of abandoned concepts. So I dug that out again and decided that no, I did not write 14 pages to let them just collect dust.
> 
> Which brings us to the now, where I decided to revamp that oneshot and turn it into a fully functional multiple chapter fic, expanding on what little I had planned with it - like, including Hope van Dyne as an Avenger in this (because that is a thing very dear to me), or making Tony adopt orphans (also a thing very dear to me) and it gives me the opportunity to FINALLY write Clintasha.
> 
> And, admittedly, my goal for the Marvel fandom definitely was to at least write one multiple chapter FrostIron AND one multiple chapter WinterIron. So, here we are, in my new multi-chapter WinterIron Tower Fic! I hope you guys will enjoy the ride!


	2. Trip and Bobby

Avengers || WinterIron || Avengers || Assembling the Avengers || Avengers || WinterIron || Avengers

Title: Assembling the Avengers – Living at Stark Tower

Disclaimer: All rights concerning the Avengers reserved to Marvel. This fanfiction on the other hand is entirely mine. No money is made with this, though reviews are more than welcomed.

Warnings: m/m, Canon Divergent Post-Avengers (2012), Team as Family, families of choice, adoption, fluff, hurt/comfort, PTSD, explicit intercourse, anal, oral, m/f, f/f

Main Pairing: Bucky/Tony

Side Pairings: Hope/Darcy, Bruce/Jane, Clint/Natasha, Rhodey/May, Happy/Pepper

Marvel Characters: Anthony 'Tony' Stark, James 'Bucky' Barnes, Steve Rogers, Bruce Banner, Clint Barton, Natasha Romanova, Thor Odinson, Jane Foster, Darcy Lewis, Hope van Dyne, James 'Rhodey' Rhodes, Sam Wilson, Sharon Carter, Katherine Keener, Harley Keener, Gwen Stacy, Miles Morales, Edward 'Ned' Leeds, Peter Parker, May Parker, Pepper Potts, Happy Hogan, Maria Hill

Summary: After the battle of New York, Tony invites the Avengers to live with him in Stark Tower. Everything evolves from there on out. Living together in the tower changes the team-dynamic, changes the fate of the Avengers and how their line-up grows differently over time.

**Assembling the Avengers**

_Living at Stark Tower_

_Chapter 2: Trip and Bobby_

Living at the Avengers Tower – as it had officially been renamed about a month after the Avengers had moved in – was an experience in itself. Maria was their official liaison with SHIELD at the beginning and she had been in charge of decorating the Headquarters floor. They kept the quin-jet there in the hanger, had the meeting hall on the same floor, with conference rooms and offices.

The Avengers found a nice kind of routine together too. Obviously, not all of them were _always_ staying at the Avengers Tower. Clint, Natasha and Steve were still on SHIELD's payroll and went on their own frequent missions, Thor sometimes left for Asgard.

Still, their new system of living together and working together was beneficial to them all. One wasn't alone with their own Big Bad of the week anymore and they could, in case of an attack somewhere in the city, match their skills to the problem at hand.

On top of that, there were the clear perks of living at the tower, the greatest high-tech building in existence. If one manged the technology, that was. One person who was truly struggling with that was Clint. Every morning, Clint was fighting with the toaster. There was absolutely no other way to describe it. Natasha sat at the table, watching in amusement how Clint tried to put toast into the toaster and _failed_. She sat next to Bruce, who was reading the newspaper and only paying a quarter of mind to the spies. Thor was drinking a large, cooled glass of ale, laughing heartedly as he watched his fellow Avenger fighting against the 'puny machine'. When Steve entered the kitchen, Clint's hair was singed and he looked all the part of someone who had received an electric shock.

"What's... going on here?", asked Steve cautiously, watching Clint glare at the toaster.

"This—This _thing_ attacked me", hissed Clint and kicked it.

"What _in the world_ do you think you're doing to Bobby?!"

The sudden and angry voice startled them, even Bruce dropped his newspaper. It was... actually, it was the first time they saw Tony that angry, not counting the incident on the helicarrier when Steve and Tony had edged on, influenced by the staff. All of a sudden, Tony was in the middle of the kitchen and cradling the toaster to his chest like it was a puppy.

"...Bobby?", echoed Bruce curiously, pushing his glasses up.

"The toaster", growled Tony, patting the toaster that clicked a few times in reply. "Oh, that fiend. Barton, no more bread for you if you can't respect Bobby. Go eat cereals."

"Bobby?", repeated Clint this time, looking incredulously at the genius. "Bobby the toaster?"

Tony patted the toaster a last time before turning to make himself a coffee. "Burner of Bread. Bob. In my defense, I was a kid when I first invented and named him. Bobby here is mark 23."

"You mean to say your machine is sentient?", asked Thor in awe.

Tony paused, holding the mug of coffee barely beneath his lips. "You moved in a month ago, into a _talking house_. I have a suit that can fly and fire lasers. How does it surprise you that the toaster has a personality? I'm not sure about sentient. To an extend, yes. Not to the same as Jarvis though. Jarvis is one of his kind. All others are more on a... lower level."

"Thank you, sir", chimed Jarvis in.

"All others?", repeated Natasha, eyeing the kitchen warily.

"Well, you apparently already met Trip and she seems to like you", replied Tony, indicating the coffee in Natasha's hand. "Trip's picky. If you insult her, she can make your coffee very disgusting. Be nice to her and she gives it to you just the way you love it."

"Ah", nodded Natasha, turning toward the red coffee-machine. "Thank you... Trip."

To her surprise, the coffee-machine clicked its button a couple times and it actually sounded happy. Or were they just going crazy? Steve slowly sat down, dazed by this level of genius. Since he had woken up, he had gotten used to the advanced technology and when he and the other Avengers had moved in here, he had expected the technology to be superior to what normal people had. He had thought what he had seen on the surface over the past few weeks had been it. But this? This exceeded all expectations. For a brief moment, he contemplated getting himself a coffee. Then he decided that if he wanted to live here, he needed to get along with the machines and get used to Tony's brand of craziness. It made sense, in a way. Tony was a lonely guy – for all the affairs he always had, for how popular he was and how many admirers and business alliances he had, he only had three real friends. Rhodey, Pepper and Happy. No family, no one else he trusted. That was, before he had the Avengers. Steve was determined to change things for the better. Not just for Tony, but for them all. Bruce had no one, Thor's family was on another planet, Clint and Natasha only had one another. But this – living together, being a team – it was the beginning of something more. It was the beginning of what could be their chance at having a family, in each other.

"Hello, Trip. It's nice to make your acquaintance", stated Steve, feeling only slightly odd about talking to a machine. "Would you be so kind to make me a coffee?"

The coffee-machine made a sound that was high-pitched and sounded happy, soon followed by the dripping of dark-brown brew. Steve cast a sideways glance at Tony, who was caressing the handle of the fridge with his thumb. Taking a page out of Tony's book, Steve decided to lay his hand on top of the coffee-machine and rub it gently. It chirped in reply, making Tony laugh.

"Trip the coffee-machine?", asked Bruce with a small smile, raising one eyebrow.

"Technologically Reinforced Intelligence Program. I perfected Bobby and the others after I accomplished Trip. My little pride and joy", cooed Tony, patting the coffee-machine. "She seems to like you, Cap. Maybe you should let Cap handle your breakfast, Barton."

"How do you... I mean, you seem to understand them", questioned Bruce intrigued.

"Well, it's been years. I created Trip in high school. You learn to understand the fine differences in clicks and squeaks with time, I guess", shrugged Tony with a frown.

Clint started laughing loudly. "You're like a Disney-princess, but instead of woodland critters, you talk to machines... You don't need mice to do your laundry, you just sing to your washing machine!"

Tony glowered at Clint until the sink suddenly decided to spray Clint with cold water, causing him to yelp and jump. Now it was the turn of the other Avengers to laugh and snicker.

/break\

"Would you make me a coffee, _ple~ease_?"

Natasha rolled her eyes and turned her head enough to look at the blonde next to her on the bed. Clint was using his puppy-dog eyes. He had switched to going out to get himself a coffee weeks ago, but they had been on a long and exhausting mission until roughly two AM last night. She could imagine that he had no energy to go to the next Starbucks and get himself something to energize him. Rolling fully onto her side so she could face him properly, she gave him a deadpan look and shook her head. She wasn't getting out of this bed for the next few hours either.

"That is not gonna happen, Clint", stated Natasha. "If you can't get along with Trip, you don't get coffee. I'm not going to betray her by aiding you. If she finds out, I'll end up suffering the same disgusting brew like you. I have no idea why you can't get along with the kitchen."

Clint pouted and turned around so his back was facing his partner in all senses of the word. It was completely not his fault. Those machines were against him, that was all. It was all Tony's fault.

"You are the _meanest_ ", huffed Clint like it was the worst insult on Earth.

Natasha chuckled fondly. She admired his childlike attitude, it was refreshing in their line of work. Granted, at times she wished he'd lay off the pranks some, because no one wanted the Hulk to trash their living room. Still, Clint often found the gloomiest situations and managed to lighten the mood with one of his pranks or his sassy comments. It didn't surprise her at the least that Clint and Tony were the best friends and the worst enemies. Depending on if they sassed each other or if they teamed up on an unsuspecting victim. Mostly that victim turned out to be Steve. Because after a few months, even Clint had learned that pranking Bruce could result in an angry Hulk and no one wanted an angry Hulk _against_ them. Natasha was out of question, because aside from Natasha knowing too many ways to kill a person without a weapon, much less with the aid of one, Clint also knew he'd be sleeping on the couch for months if he dared to prank her (never mind that technically he had his own _floor_ , he just preferred to sleep in Nat's). Thor was critical. He was like a naive, big puppy sometimes and then even Clint and Tony felt bad about pranking him. That only left Steve and Steve had learned to take it all in good humor. Natasha was living in a kindergarten. The worst thing? She actually enjoyed it. She had never felt as alive as here with the Avengers. She had always been lonely – the name Black Widow was an earned one. After the mission was over, she was alone. Not anymore. She came home to... to a family. The only family she had ever truly known. To comforting pancakes made by Captain America, the sound of witty banter between Clint and Tony, a gentle and not prying conversation with Bruce, the comforting words of praise coming from Thor who loved to point out that she was a mighty lady warrior, worthy of the ranks of the Valkyries. It felt good, not being a cold-blooded assassin but doing good.

"I'll go and get breakfast. Are you coming with me?", inquired Natasha as she got up, looking at Clint for a moment before adding. "I'll even make you toast. I'm sure Bob won't mind."

Clint perked up and jumped off the bed, following the female spy to their elevator and up to the Common Area. Thor was sprawled out on the couch, snoring loudly. He could sleep in his bed, or even in the living room of his own quarters, but Natasha understood. After she and Clint had returned last night, their first destination had been the Common Area too, where they had been glad to find Bruce and Tony just emerging from the Headquarters. They had been in the middle of some discussion about their latest project, getting their probably fifth pot of coffee for the day. Though those plans had been canceled when they saw Natasha and Clint. The four of them had moved to the living room and just lounged together. It was a kind of tradition that had formed rather quickly. When someone returned from a not-team mission, they'd gather together. To enforce the feeling of coming home, to make sure the others knew they weren't alone anymore. It was a good feeling. Natasha filled the toaster while Clint got out three plates and they relocated to the living room.

"Thor honey, breakfast", chimed Clint high-pitched.

"Not yet, I am indulging in a fantastic dream", groaned Thor and turned over.

Natasha grinned amused as she settled down to eat breakfast. "Not your wife. Come on. Breakfast."

The god of thunder grunted and cracked one eye open, looking at the two spies. He had come to consider them his Midgardian family and he valued them no less than his Asgardian family. Stretching to get rid of all the kinks in his spine, he sat up. Buttered toast and different kinds of marmalade were set out on the table in front of him. Surely no feast to celebrate the victorious battle he had just fought, but the company made it worthy enough. The hunger too. And when Clint got out the hidden boxes of Pop Tarts, Thor's face lit up in joy.

"Why are you all already awake? Weren't you guys on missions? Shouldn't you still be asleep?"

Thor turned his head to look at their two brilliant friends. Tony looked bewildered as he saw them all sitting together and eating breakfast. By the looks of it, the two scientist hadn't left their lair since Thor had left for Svartalfheim to aid his dwarven friends in battle. Tony and Bruce were still wearing the same clothes as they had when Thor had left – which, unlike for Asgardians, seemed to be unusual. He understood that their brilliant minds could get easily distracted so both, though Tony more so than Bruce, tended to forget to sleep or eat between work. It was worrisome, making Thor glad that the Avengers were living here together to watch out for each other. Steve would often go down to the labs to bring them sandwiches or to forcefully drag them out so they'd sleep. The super soldier was a fine leader, who looked out for his team, and Thor appreciated that greatly.

"Come join our feast. We celebrate victory", announced Thor with a large smile, holding up his buttered toast for now while looking longingly at the Pop Tarts Clint was taking care of. "For we all returned victoriously from our quests! As was expected."

"This is so not a celebration", stated Tony with a deadpan and looked at the food.

With that said, he disappeared into the kitchen and soon, the living room was filled with the delicious smell of what truly was feast-worthy. It never stopped to surprise Thor that Tony could cook – the man who was mostly too engrossed in work to even eat. It seemed so untypical.

"Where did you learn to cook, my friend?", asked Thor in his booming voice as he stood.

The trio from the living room headed after the two scientists and sat down in the kitchen to keep Tony company. He wore a Captain America apron that he had bought after laughing for twenty minutes straight about the fact that such a thing existed. Thor remembered fondly how Steve had looked at the scientist. A mix of exasperation and the slightest dust of fondness.

"You don't even need to try, Thor", chuckled Natasha with a glint in her eyes. "I've seen dictators giving their plans up easier than Tony Stark talking about anything before he became an Avenger."

Thor frowned confused. He loved to share his adventures after a good ale and yes, at times it was painful to talk about his family in Asgard and the past that laid between Thor and Loki, but it was a bittersweet thing too. To indulge his comrades in his tales. Tony however...

"Ah, but are we not a family? Surely we can share such mundane things about our lives", pointed Thor out, frowning confused and looking over at the wealthy man.

Tony paused his movement and went still. Steve, who had been watching from the doorway since Clint's attempt at waking Thor, stepped closer to join his team. He knew Howard Stark had done Tony many wrongs, regardless of how unbelievable that still sounded for Steve. He had learned to respect and value Howard Stark and even liked to call Howard a friend, he had a hard time believing that the man would be cruel toward anyone, much less his own flesh and blood. But he was also unwilling to believe Tony would lie about such matters. Especially considering that Tony had never actually accused Howard of anything. The team had only learned about it from Rhodey, during a drunk and bitter night (on Rhodey's part) a few weeks back. If it were lies, then a man like Tony surely could play his cards better – use the empathy abused children got for his advantage. But Tony kept it all bottled up, made sure it never reached foreign ears – much less the press. That was all the proof Steve needed to know that if he could go back in time, he'd punch Howard in the jaw.

"Aunt Peggy taught me", said Tony softly after a while.

The team, at this point setting the table for a _proper_ celebratory breakfast, halted and stumbled for a second. When it were boisterous stories of women or inventions, then Tony could speak about his past. Things like Afghanistan, Obediah Stane and least of it all his childhood? He never lost a word about them. Bruce was utterly surprised that Tony actually answered. What little they knew about the self-proclaimed genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist was through the news and Rhodey's beer-loosened tongue. Not from the man himself. Though Bruce was pretty sure that in some kind of way, Tony must have approved of Rhodey sharing things with his team. It was far too frequent to be a coincident. If Rhodey truly would be that bad at keeping Tony's secrets, then either they wouldn't be friends anymore or Tony's life would be all over the news at this point. Bruce was pretty sure that Rhodey was a kind of spokesman. Tony's past had scared him deeply, crippled him emotionally. He may be incapable to talk about it, but he still wished to be honest with his friends, so he had allowed Rhodey to tell them selected details. Or so Bruce thought.

"Peggy?", repeated Steve, with so much emotion that it was clear he had a bond to the name.

"Peggy Carter", elaborated Tony, his voice gentle. "She was a... family friend." There was another pause and Tony went back to making breakfast, while the others continued to set the table, thinking this was all the answer they'd get. "When the great Howard Stark had an idea, he disappeared for days without a break. Not to be bothered. Over the years, it had driven my mother to drinking. So while my mother was passed out in the parlor and my father was locked into his workshop, aunt Peggy took care of me. Taught me how to cook, told me stories. Parent-stuff, you know?"

It was a strange concept for Steve to think the woman he had fancied had been like a mother to Tony. It was the closest Tony had ever come to voicing his father's neglect. Never before had any of them heard of Maria Stark's situation though. Steve had been wondering, had assumed that maybe Tony had at least gotten love from her. Apparently not.

"She was a... force to be reckoned", chuckled Tony fondly.

"Sounds that way", grunted Clint. "If she put up with you, she must have been."

"Oh, shut it, bird-brain", huffed Tony. "Or no bacon for you."

Clint whined, causing the others to chuckle. Not that Tony had meant it. Today they celebrated, for the sake of Natasha, Clint and Thor, all having accomplished their respective missions without losing their lives or limbs. And for Clint, not ending up in the infirmary really was an accomplishment. The archer was prone to injure himself in the most ridiculous ways. Even Clint got good coffee on such days. And damn, it was good. The cursed coffee-machine really made the best coffee Clint had ever tasted, but that didn't mean he was going to play nice with the hexed thing.

/break\

Clint's favorite thing about living at the Avengers Tower – aside from the advanced weapons he got from Tony (because the Avengers were the only ones for whom Tony still made weapons) and the fact that he actually had a _home_ – were movie nights. Movie nights were a tradition that went back to their first month of living at the tower, when Rhodey had been over and watched _Transformers_ with Tony. For the kicks of it. Cap had walked in and his initial reaction had been disturbed shock, thinking the news were on and Tony had created some horrifying sentient robots. It took the Avengers a bit to calm down from their laughing fit, before explaining that it was a movie. The following week, all the Avengers were gathered in the Common Area's living room for the first annual movie night. That first night, they scribbled a list – starting with the movies that Steve had already noted down as things he needed to be caught up on. Everyone added something they deemed necessary to watch. That list hung next to the flat-screen, together with a pen. Old school, for Cap's sake. Whenever they watched one of the movies, it got crossed off. Whenever a different movie came to someone's mind, it got added to the list. They took rotating turns on who got to pick a movie from the list to watch to keep it fair.

This week's movie was _Forrest Gump_. Because they needed something to laugh. It was a good tradition. It grounded them and brought both Cap and Thor closer to modern times. Natasha had her feet in Clint's lap, both looking pretty cozy in this show of affection, something they only did rarely and only in the safety of their team. Thor next to Steve was laughing heartedly at the movie. Tony sat with Bruce on their other side. Tony liked this, these calm nights together as a team.

"Did you sleep at all last night, Tony?", asked Steve softly, in that scolding kind of way.

"I'll make sure he goes to bed at one point tonight", grunted Bruce with a fond scowl.

"Sh now! The movie is starting!", hissed Clint, throwing popcorn at the three of them.

Huffing amused, Tony ducked so the popcorn hit Bruce mainly. This was still all very odd and very new, despite having been his new normal for nearly three months at that point. The tower had been so big and so _empty_ before. Now it was filled with bickering and laughter, shenanigans and this odd feeling, this sense of family and home. It made Tony feel warm in a way he hadn't expected to... ever really feel again, not since Jarvis and Ana had died, not since aunt Peggy had gotten ill. It most certainly was not what Tony had expected when Nick Fury had first suggested the Avengers Initiative to him. But then again, who could have _possibly_ predicted any of this? No, not even a genius like Tony Stark could have seen this outcome.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before tackling events fo the MCU, I found it important to establish that a certain amount of time had passed and the Avengers bonded in that shared time. Now that we got that established, we will tackle Iron Man 3 in the next chapter! What if Captain America and the rest of the Avengers actually got involved when a literal group of terrorists attack the US?


	3. Taking Care of Tony

_Chapter 3: Taking Care of Tony_

They were sitting together in the living room when the news hit. Tony had been dragged out of his lab by Steve _and_ Natasha – a team-up always meant he had gone too long without sleep, he knew that. So he had been in the living room, waiting for a sandwich Clint was preparing for him (peanut-butter. With Clint it was always peanut-butter). Tony was pouting, because this was clearly time he could have used in his lab. Instead, he was stuck between Natasha and Bruce, waiting for his sandwich. The two were having a conversation over his head like he wasn't even there!

Before he could complain, the screen changed. It only took them moments to call Steve and Clint back in from the kitchen (Clint couldn't make a sandwich on his own; the toaster was still not talking to him, after all). A guy calling himself the Mandarin showed his face and held a very grand, dramatic speech. Terrorists. _Again_. Like Tony wasn't still railing from the last time he had to deal with those guys. (Like Tony wasn't still railing from the thing that had happened _between_.)

The Avengers simply stared, unsure how to process this. Thor was off-world right now – the trial of his brother keeping him more busy. But what were they supposed to do? Were they supposed to do something? So far, they had just been living together. Natasha and Clint going on missions for SHIELD, Tony being busy with Stark Industries stuff (and upgrades) and Bruce keeping himself occupied with his own science projects. They had all come together during a great crisis. A world-ending crisis. An alien attack. So... the rules were unclear. What was and wasn't Avengers territory.

"What... I mean, do we do something?", asked Clint slowly. "Because I'll tell you, my knee-jerk reaction is to do something. I'm just unsure what."

"We... can't take care of every terrorist threat", threw Natasha in. "There _are_ law-enforcements and people whose jobs this kind of thing is. We can't just march in and take over."

"Nat's right", agreed Steve, though he looked tense and frustrated. "We wait for orders."

"Orders from whom?", questioned Bruce. "Nick Fury to call us in?"

"Fury, the president. Someone's gonna go 'maybe we need superheroes on this one' when the need arises. For now, I have suits to upgrade and things to take care of!", declared Tony.

He laughed, shaky and fake, as he made his way out, the Avengers' temporary distraction enough for him to sneak away again. As soon as the elevator doors closed did he slide down onto the floor, his heart racing and his breath short. Just seeing it sent him back into the cave and wasn't he _just_ kind of sort of getting the hang of the whole... wormhole-issue? (Sure, one may suggest that not sleeping to avoid the nightmares was not really getting the hang of it, but Tony would like to argue that it was very much working for him so far.)

/break\

Tony was behaving weird. Clint was the first one to notice. Jumpy. Restless and at the same time tired and exhausted all the time, like he needed to sleep but simply opted out of it. Weird. Well, considering that he was Tony Stark anyway. Tony never slept. He closed his eyes every once in a while, but other than that, he constantly worked. Something about him seemed off though. He also spent more time in his private workshop again, something he hadn't done in months. At least not to this extend. He always had some private project that he didn't want the Avengers to see until it was finished – mostly upgrades on their weapons and suits. But this was extreme. He was hiding something. Something big. At first, Clint kept dismissing it. But then the others started noticing it too. And one morning, when Tony hadn't emerged from his private workshop all night and the others were gathered for breakfast, Clint decided to voice it.

"Something's wrong with Tony."

Relief seemed to go through the others at that, like they had all been thinking it but hadn't dared to speak up. Natasha brushed her hair out of her face, the only nervous habit he had ever seen on her. And she _only_ ever showed it when things concerned Clint's life. Seemed like in the past months, the Avengers had upgraded from 'a team to work with' to 'something like _maybe_ a family'.

"Maybe it's SI. He has been handing the full reigns to Pepper, maybe something did come up and he thinks that we may be here for Avengers-dangers but not for the... ah, real-world-dangers. He has been spending a lot of money on _us_. This tower, all the equipment for us, the jet, now the pay-check for Hill and the others, all the damage-repairs...", offered Bruce after a moment.

"Yeah, but... he's rich, right?", piped Clint in, looking confused. "Like, really rich."

"But not bottomless rich", grunted Natasha and gave him a look.

"Especially considering he's not exactly... used to responsibilities", murmured Bruce thoughtful. "He's been a player, he brushed off responsibility all his life. Afghanistan had been the first time he ever faced responsibility – and none of us know what even _happened_ there."

"So, do you think we can help Tony, somehow?", asked Steve slowly.

Before their mood could drop any more, Tony joined them. He looked horrible. Bags beneath his eyes, yet not the kind from being overworked but the kind from not having been able to sleep.

"Morning, sunshine. You hungry, Tones?", asked Clint playfully.

"No", grunted Tony, nursing a coffee and nearly cowering on his seat.

"How... How was your dinner with Rhodes?", asked Bruce after a moment.

"Good. Great. Yeah. Iron Patriot. Taking care of the Mandarin. No need for the Avengers."

Bruce furrowed his brows and looked at Natasha. The redhead cocked one eyebrow and shrugged. There was an odd tone to Tony's voice. A displeased one, like more had happened, or this was worrying him more than he let on. Yes, it worried Bruce too, in a way. It'd be unnatural not to be worried about an active terrorist threat, honestly.

"Colonel Rhodes is a very capable man, I'm sure he can handle it", stated Steve after a moment.

One night, when Rhodey had been over, the two military men had bonded over too many beer. Rhodey did know all the best and funniest Tony stories, after all. It had been fun. Tony made a small, soft sound of agreement, that little smile on his face that was reserved to thinking about his best friend with pride and approval. Maybe they were blowing something out of proportions.

/break\

Pepper and Tony had _tried_ a relationship. And failed. Pepper didn't want him to be Iron Man and Pepper worried for his safety. Things had been awkward for a while, working so close together, having their history with each other. Pepper had found comfort in Happy's arms. At first purely platonic – there were only three people in the world who truly understood what it meant having Tony Stark in their lives (even if the Avengers were slowly getting there themselves, the few months of living together did not compare to the bond Happy, Pepper, Rhodey and Tony shared). Over the following weeks, that platonic comfort developed into more. Happy had a crush on Pepper for years, but with the thing between Tony and Pepper, he had never spoken up. Only after talking to Tony about the level of awkwardness this may cause did Happy actually go and ask Pepper out.

"There's a guy here", complained Happy. "He's showing Pepper his big brain."

Tony raised an eyebrow at the very strange euphemism. "Okay? And..."

"And I don't trust the guy. Killian Jones. Something about him is off. He's here with this... other guy. Very sketchy. I don't like this", declared Happy, looking very _un_ happy.

That did put the smallest smile on Tony's lips. Happy was _jealous_. How... adorable. More or less.

"Listen, Hap, you have nothing to worry about. She adores you. She doesn't care about... brain-size. I may find this jealousy adorable, Pep may _not_. So try tuning it down", advised Tony.

He smiled bemused and shook his head, though he did bring up all the data he had on this Killian guy he supposedly had met before in Switzerland. That night was kind of a blur. As were most nights from back in the day when he was still intimately acquainted with alcohol. Oh, how he missed it. But the Avengers were keeping him dry. Not just by not allowing any alcohol in the tower, but... weirdly enough, by being there. When Tony emerged from his room or his workshop in need of a drink, he could always count on finding at least one Avenger in the living room. Watching late night TV, eating a midnight snack, having just returned from a mission, doing some late reading. Tony was pretty sure that Jarvis alerted them of when he was in need of company and they just... came and posed as casually hanging out. Either way, he appreciated the gesture and sitting with them and talking to them had helped him through more than a few hard nights.

There was just one thing he didn't know how to talk to them about. Or if he should talk to them about it at all. The after-effects that the invasion had taken on him. Be that the countless – well, very much countable, 43 at this point – suits he built in a desperate attempt to _protect_ , to improve so he could properly protect, or the nightmares, the many, horrible nightmares that left him breathless and panicked and lonely. So unfathomably lonely. It was the most overwhelming feeling Tony remembered from inside the wormhole. How deep, dark and _lonely_ space was. Jarvis had been offline, there had been no chance for the Avengers to reach him. He was... gone forever. But then he wasn't anymore. Suddenly, he woke up to the Hulk roaring and there they were, all of the Avengers, standing in a circle around him, looking at him so worried. Seemingly caring about him.

Maybe that was why he had invited them in. Because in that one moment he had felt his loneliest, his most broken, he woke up to all of them around him. The cave, Afghanistan, had been bad, but he hadn't been _alone_ , he had Yinsen. Out in open space, even though it had only been _so short_ , somehow it had felt... even longer than the cave had felt. That was out of whack, Tony knew that, it made no sense, but yet somehow, in his head, it did. Space had been an unknown, ungraspable threat of infinite darkness and loneliness, opening a whole new universe of threats.

/break\

"Why did he do this? Why did he go there to begin with? And alone at that?"

Tony frowned, resting a comforting hand on Pepper's shoulder as she sat next to Happy's hospital bed. There had been another Mandarin attack and somehow, Happy had gotten himself caught in the middle of this. And now he was in the hospital, unconscious and injured. It was staggering to look at Happy like this. To see Pepper next to him like this, crying, holding onto Happy's hand.

"He'll be... He'll be fine, Pep", promised Tony, voice wavering.

He couldn't even convince himself. Would this have happened if he had listened more closely to Happy's concerns? About Killian? Did Happy get involved on his own and hurt because of that? Because he was out there, all alone? Tony hadn't been there to protect him. What was the _point_ of all his suits, all the training, if he couldn't even protect his own family...?

"Pepper, hey. How are you holding up?"

Tony was startled at the familiar voice. When he turned around, he saw Natasha standing in the doorway. The two redheads hugged briefly before Nat sat down next to Pepper. Huh. Well, the two had kind of formed an odd friendship when Nat had pretended to be Tony's secretary (despite the rocky start), so maybe he shouldn't be as surprised that the two had stayed in contact.

"Steve's outside to give you a ride home, Tony", offered Natasha softly after a moment. "I'll keep Pepper company. You, go and track down the bastard who did this."

He nodded sharply, though found himself baffled by the idea of having Captain America as his chauffeur. Why? Dazed and with a last look at Happy, all scratched up and bruised and unconscious, did Tony leave the hospital room, to find a concerned looking Steve.

"What are you doing here, Capsicle?", asked Tony confused, allowing the blonde to lead the way.

"We've been living at the tower for half a year now. And Mister Hogan takes his job as head of security _very_ seriously. We've all... had our fair share of interactions with him. When we heard that he got hurt... And I figured, it wouldn't be good to leave you all alone right now. I know him and Miss Potts are like family to you, Tony", offered Steve after a moment.

Tony just nodded. The concept of Captain America bonding with Happy during a security check seemed strange, but it figured. Cap had that charming personality that just won people over. Smiling very faintly, he allowed Steve to lead him outside. Yet not even the presence of Captain America himself could stop Tony from making bad life choices – when overwhelmed by reporters who had their own dumb thoughts to add to this situation instead of leaving him alone after what happened, he couldn't be stopped from challenging the Mandarin personally. After all, everybody knew where Tony Stark lived. There was still a gigantic A claiming Avengers Tower and it was still officially known as Stark Tower. Before he got too far into his challenge, Steve grabbed him firmly by the arm, glared pointedly at him and pulled him along to make their way home.

/break\

"Tell us what to do, Tony. How can we help?"

"H... Help?", echoed Tony confused, looking around at the gathering of Avengers.

"Of course. This just got personal", huffed Clint offended. "Besides you _literally_ invited a terrorist to come visit us at home. So like. Maybe we should visit him first."

"Tony, you're not alone in this", noted Bruce gently. "What can we do?"

"Okay. Okay. So I have some ideas. Simulations to run, data to analyze..."

"Show me where I can help", offered Bruce.

"And we're just... gonna get ready to go out, whenever you find a lead", offered Steve.

Tony nodded sharply, slightly awkwardly because really, having the Avengers offer help was still unusual for him. For the next hour, him and Bruce were in the lab, working on analyzing the things they had data on. In the end, they figured that tracking the extreme heat-signatures was the best approach. Jarvis found one that was outstanding – one that had happened far before any of the Mandarin related explosions. In Rose Hill. Jarvis agreed to plan a flight route for Rose Hill, but before they could get anything done, they were disturbed by an unexpected visitor.

"She says she knows you and had your help with something years ago", offered Clint doubtfully. "I know Happy wouldn't let her in, but she said it's important and about some guy named Killian-"

"Yeah, we're gonna meet her... but don't let her _inside_. Let's meet her on the roof. Privacy and no opportunity to snoop", muttered Tony. "Killian, he has _something_ to do with all of this."

That had Clint and Steve on high-alert too. They came along upstairs. However, their conversation didn't _really_ get going thanks to some... incoming missiles. Okay. Maybe, just _maybe_ , provoking terrorists was not the hottest way to go. And despite Steve, Clint and the Hulk helping out, the fight was a blur to Tony – or maybe it was a concussion from the explosion, who knew.

Either way, when he came to it again, he was surrounded by snow and in a broken suit. The last thing that Jarvis said to him was that they were in Rose Hill – because it was the last destination Jarvis had calculated for. Okay. Super not how that had been planned. He had meant to get the coordinates down to the team, inform Nat and have them all go to Rose Hill _together_. Great. Now he was left out here, with a broken suit and a possible concussion.

It was exhausting and it was _cold_ and he hated being out here defenseless and alone, but he managed to drag his suit all the way to town and found shelter inside a barn. Naturally, he didn't really get a break there either, because suddenly there was a kid aiming a potato gun at him. And okay, brave little bugger, facing off a potential mugger like that. The gun was also impressive.

"I need multiple things from you, kiddo. If you wanna be useful", proposed Tony after a bit of admittedly amusing banter with the little kid. "One important one would be a sandwich."

Harley – as the kid introduced himself – he gave him a doubtful look, but in the end, he did provide all the things Tony asked of him and even went to give Tony a tour of Rose Hill. Including the side of the explosion. And wow, _how_ did this little brat call him out on his PTSD? Ouch. But yes, maybe the kid was right. Maybe Tony _had_ PTSD. Maybe Tony really should be on meds. Maybe Tony... needed help. Not right now though, right now, they were being attacked by glowing lava people who set things on fire and exploded. That was just great.

"You look like you could use a hand. Or a water-pistol."

Startled, Tony whirled around and looked at the snarkily grinning archer who had just hit the dude attacking Tony in the shoulder with an arrow. Huh. What... was he doing here? Turning some more, he saw Cap charging from the other side. Okay. Back-up. He had back-up.

"Bruce said you tracked something abnormal down to Rose Hill. It was a long shot but we-"

"Is everyone okay? The attack-", interrupted Tony distressed.

"We evacuated everyone. Some had minor injuries, but thankfully your tower's reinforcements did make it sturdier so while we're missing a roof and half the common area, the tower didn't fold in and the only ones injured were in the upper levels", replied Clint. "Focus on the fight now?"

"Yes. Please. Because I never fought against people who explode on their own", requested Cap.

"Right. Yeah. Fight now. Everything else later", agreed Tony tensely.

/break\

A heated jet was a really, _truly_ marvelous thing. Tony got to lean back and take a breath. Well, when he wasn't informing everyone of his conclusions and findings. They called Rhodey in, since he was technically in charge of finding the Mandarin and they were _kind of_ invading his territory here.

Tony told them all about AIM, about Killian. And then they went on to track the Mandarin down, in Florida of all places. Tony didn't know what he would have done if he had been alone. Probably something ridiculous dangerous, all on his own. Instead though, he had Steve, Clint, Natasha and a reluctant but willing Bruce who really hoped they wouldn't need the Hulk. The spies were great at sneaking in. Finding out the Mandarin was only an actor though? That was a shock. Still, Killian and his minions were surprisingly easily overwhelmed when one had two sneaky spies, a super soldier, a Hulk and an Iron War Machine Patriot as back-up.

"To think that this guy just... hired an actor to _play_ the scapegoat?", snorted Clint. "Insane."

"Come on, let's return. See how Mister Hogan is doing", sighed Steve. "...And fix our home."

Our home. Tony smiled ever so faintly at that. Yes. Their home indeed. He liked that sound.

/break\

The asset was wary as he watched from the shadows how two American patriots, two spies and a very snarky and tricky short man took out AIM. That... was his job though. HYDRA had not been pleased with the kind of attention Killian Jones was drawing and while his Extremis had potential, he seemed unable to work out the kinks. Those two things combined had led the asset's handlers to the decision that Jones ought to be taken care of. It was curious to see someone else do it before him. He found himself staring at the short brunette in fascination. The others came in armor and suits and with weapons, but he just... improvised things and still managed to take out his targets?

Still. There was nothing left to do for him but to return to his handler, since the job was taken care of. Even if not by him, personally. And as he made his way back, he found himself wondering about the short brunette and also the tall blonde, who seemed so strangely familiar...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a slow-burn, but there are two movies that gotta happen before Winter Soldier. Here, we tick off IM3. Next chapter is going to be Thor 2 and after that, we will bring Bucky home! ;)
> 
> However, **there will be no update next month**. August is Writer's Month, a 31 day prompt event I am hosting with two friends and that I also plan on participating in, for all 31 prompts. Due to my severe condition of only being human with two hands to type, I simply can't write 31 oneshots and five chapters total for my ongoing stories, so updates will be suspended. The schedule will resume in September and the next update for this fic will be **September 5th**.


	4. The Fosters

_Chapter 4: The Fosters_

Portals opened all over the world and Thor's ex-girlfriend got involved with them again.

Jane Foster, brilliant astrophysicist to the point that Tony wondered why exactly SHIELD hadn't thought to call upon her when Loki attacked New York, considering they made Tony learn all about astrophysics over night when they could have just speed-dialed one of the world's leading experts.

The Avengers came together, fighting... Dark Elves, which at this point in their career honestly felt just like another Tuesday. They helped Thor close the portals, after he returned from his latest trip to the universe. Darcy and Jane fit right in with them, to the point that Tony got an idea.

"Doctor Foster, you don't happen to need some... sponsorship and a lab?"

The Avengers were in some Indian restaurant in London, celebrating their victory much like they had after the invasion of New York. Jane and Darcy were with them, Darcy talking animatedly with Clint about something that Tony wasn't sure he wanted to know. He was more interested in Jane.

"What are you offering, Doctor Stark?", asked Jane curiously, tilting her head.

It made Tony smile a little. Not many remembered he was a doctor – many doctors, really. Not that he cared too much about titles and being addressed by them. No, this made him more smile for Jane's sake. It spoke to who she was. So did the way she looked at him, like she already knew.

"I mean, you were brilliant out there and the Avengers are about more than just fighting", shrugged Tony, poking at his food. "Brucie and me are running a science department and considering that this is now the second time your skills would have come in handy for the Avengers – I'm just gonna name-drop the New York Invasion here – and that's not counting the time before the Avengers formed when SHIELD made... first contact with the big, blonde puppy over there."

"You want _me_ to join the Avengers?", asked Jane startled.

"Yes!", exclaimed Thor excitedly. "You would be a most glorious addition to the team."

"Says the big fella who keeps leaving for off-world trips", huffed Natasha softly. "Though having two more women on the team would be nice. It's _such_ a boys' club."

"We totally accept", agreed Darcy, nodding widely.

"Darcy", groaned Jane, glaring at her assistant.

"What? Funding! Funding is good. Steady income is good. Super-mega high-tech Stark labs should make you salivate. Besides, you and Thor broke up as friends, right? You worked well together this time too, didn't you? C'mon, what's not to like about the pitch?", asked Darcy excitedly.

"Shouldn't that be put to a vote among the team?", asked Jane weakly.

"I vote yes", offered Natasha, giving Jane a small smirk.

"Also yes. More brainy people equals better plans", shrugged Clint. "Also, Darce is fun."

"I think you would add a lot to our science department", agreed Bruce, looking at Jane.

"You really proved yourself in this battle, I don't see why not", nodded Steve.

"See. All agreed. Now, you can pack and come move in whenever you're ready", offered Tony.

"Congratulations on joining the Avengers is what he meant", sighed Steve amused.

Tony turned to grin at the captain. The two of them had become friends, very good friends. Tony never thought that possible, back when they had first met. The false information the internet had fed Steve – of course, googling Tony Stark brought results of a broad variety and they had gotten off the wrong foot because Steve had been led to the wrong side of the internet. After the battle of New York, they had a talk. A long, serious talk. Tony showed Steve the ugly side of the internet about Steve – because of course there were multiple dark conspiracy theories about Steve Rogers returning from his iced state, maybe as a sleeper agent from the HYDRA. Not everything on the internet could be believed, was Tony's point, underlined by showing Steve the _good_ sides, the _truth_ about Tony Stark so Steve could form his own opinion about the matter.

Ever since Steve had gotten the facts to form his own opinion, the two of them had grown into being friends and effective co-leaders of the Avengers. Things were going smoothly.

/break\

Jane and Darcy settled in nicely. Darcy quickly took over the Avengers twitter account – or rather, she _made_ one – posting pictures from inside the tower, of Avengers doing everyday things. It was a surprisingly big hit, something Tony hadn't seen coming. Then again, humanizing the Avengers went a long way in taking the edge off. A supersoldier out of time, a literal ancient god, a giant radioactive rage-monster. Many people were frightened of them, rightfully so, Tony guessed. On paper alone, they were a terrifying line-up. So seeing Thor in fluffy bunny slippers eating poptarts and Steve drawing landscapes, it _softened_ their image.

Things were going well, until the Avengers took down the Jackal – Miles Warren. A supervillain, obsessed with Oscorp. They took him down while a class of students were touring Oscorp. Things got out of hand – radioactive spiders got out of hand. And things got a little more messy when they watched a blonde girl be bitten by one, because she couldn't stay back with her classmates, she ran toward the danger, screaming for her uncle. The girl's name was Gwen Stacy, an orphan who had been raised by her uncle for years now... Miles Warren.

"Listen, Gwen, we're just... going to... give you a check-up because radioactive things can be very dangerous, okay?", offered Bruce with a gentle smile. "Come with Tony and me."

"Yeah, sure. My uncle's a supervillain, I'll end up in the foster-system and now I may turn into, what? A giant, green, radioactive spider?", huffed Gwen. "...No offense, Doctor Banner."

"None taken. The idea of turning into something else is scary. You have a right to be scared."

"You know, I really wanted to meet the Avengers, I never imagined it like this", muttered Gwen.

"Hey, you can take and post all the selfies you want after. And I'm sure it'll be alright", smiled Tony.

Gwen huffed at that, though she let them take her to Avengers Tower to be checked for any radioactiveness. Which, much to Gwen's mystery, they found. They couldn't know what the effects of it were going to be, but if Bruce was any indication, leaving her unsupervised may not be good.

"What do you propose we do, Bruce?", asked Steve, arms crossed over his chest.

"Yeah. We can't really keep her locked up in here like a lab rat", noted Clint.

Tony was pacing the room as the other Avengers talked. Darcy was currently inside of the infirmary room with Gwen, talking to her and making the kid laugh. She was only just fourteen, half a child. Leaving her alone with this was a potential disaster – even more so now that they had _kind of_ locked her legal guardian up. Then again, not their fault. Maybe he shouldn't have become a supervillain.

"We keep her", offered Tony after a moment, interrupting the conversation.

"Not to repeat what Clint said in a way that may imply he said something right, but... we can't just keep her locked up like a lab rat, Tony", pointed Natasha out, earning her a pout from her boyfriend.

"She's an orphan and as of her uncle's arraignment, she will be the state's charge", pointed Tony out, turning around. "Crazy pitch here, but... _we_ take her in. She is likely to develop powers, if I look at those results. We... are the best equipped for handling a teenager with superpowers."

"Handling, yes. Raising though", pointed Jane out with a frown.

"I mean, between the eight of us, I'm sure we can... get together a couple parenting skills?"

The Avengers slowly looked around the room, looked at each other doubtfully.

/break\

Gwen still couldn't quite believe that her uncle was a supervillain. What she could believe even _less_ was that... the Avengers took her in. Apparently, they had plead a good case in front of the judge, about teaching a teenager with superpowers how to control them. So here she was, moving into the Avengers Tower. It was fancy, large. For now, they had put her into the apartment Darcy. Apparently, it had been designed as Natasha's floor, before Tony realized Natasha and Clint were together, now she lived on his floor and the empty one had gone to Jane and Darcy. It was by far large enough to house two people. And yes, two, because Jane had slowly gravitated toward Bruce's floor over the past months. Gwen was trying to keep track of those things. So Clint and Natasha were dating and Bruce and Jane were dating _now_ , but Jane used to date Thor, but Thor was fine with that. It was interesting, definitely. Then again, she was living with the Avengers so of course.

"What kind of powers you think I'm gonna get?", asked Gwen curiously.

She was laying sprawled out on the couch, head hanging over the edge of the couch upside down, staring over at Darcy who grinned at her amused. Putting her phone down, Darcy sat down with her.

"Well, you and Bruce _did_ do the stress-test and, congrats on _not_ turning into an angry large green spider monster", offered Darcy. "Guess you'll have to be patient and find out."

Gwen grumbled at that. She sometimes wondered if she was _the only one_ who had gotten bitten, because their entire class had been there. Granted, she had also rushed ahead and gotten the closest, but who knew whether some of the radioactive spiders had escaped farther and bitten another one of the visitors? But she didn't voice those thoughts just yet. For now, they should figure out _if_ she even had any powers to begin with. Maybe she didn't, maybe it was just a bit radioactiveness.

"So—o, Jane and Bruce?", drawled Gwen to change the topic.

"Science geeks being science geeks", sighed Darcy, waving a dismissive hand. "They've been cooped up in the labs ever since we got here, basically all the time. Tony's in there often too, but he got his workshop and his SI projects to work on. So, more often than not, it was just Bruce and Jane alone, together... getting their science on... They finished each other's formulas. It was cute."

Gwen grinned to herself at that. That was cute. Brilliant scientists, who shared their passion and who understood the hard work of being an Avenger. She imagined it was probably pretty hard to find someone who _understood_ , outside of the Avengers, because they... saved the world. Repeatedly. Which only made Gwen wonder if she would become an actual Avenger, if she had powers? They took her in to teach her control of whatever hypothetical powers she had, but... no one had said anything about the Avengers. She doubted it, they saw her as a kid. Well, the government would probably take her away from them if they endangered her by putting her on the streets as a hero.

/break\

Tony thought it was kind of cute how flustered Jane was about moving in with Bruce. The two had been sneakily going steady for months now – thinking no one knew that they were going on coffee-dates and walks in the park and other such cutesy fluffy things. Everyone knew, really. And when Gwen came and needed a place to stay, it seemed like the most logical next step.

"You two are so—o cute. Really, relationship goals", teased Tony.

Bruce glared at him, while Jane flushed a bit. "Tony, don't tease."

"Not teasing, totally telling the truth. Live, for the both of us", sighed Tony dramatically.

"You know you could date too", offered Bruce a little amused.

"Yeah, no. Trying to stay sober, juggling my PTSD. The doc advised me that I should 'focus on myself', which is already hard enough with the whole... saving the world", countered Tony.

"That's very... mature of you", commented Jane with a small smile. "You've been doing better, ever since I moved in here, I've steadily seen you do better."

"Thanks. Trying my best", chuckled Tony dryly. "Well then, enough heart-to-heart. Who's ready to supervise the next round of 'guess what powers Gwen develops'?"

"Ye—es. I am very ready to observe", confirmed Jane enthusiastically. "You know, she's a really brilliant mind? I've been helping her with her homework, or rather... tried to. She really knows her way around the science herself, even without help."

The three of them made their way toward the training room, where Steve was already standing tall and proud, all Captain America, pacing in front of Gwen. It was downright adorable.

"Okay, Gwen. Today, we're gonna test your endurance", stated Tony lightly. "No worries, nothing that can hurt you. Just some tests of your reflexes and all."

"I'm ready to go", promised Gwen, stretching.

Tony's smile softened as he looked at her. He had always had a soft spot for kids. Meeting Harley had shown him that. He still supported the kid, sent him tech, made sure he would get an internship once he was old enough. Gwen was eager, bright, snarky if she wanted to be. He also related to the whole being an orphan thing and the 'uncle who raised me after my parents' death is a villain' thing.

/break\

"We're being watched, Tony."

Tony raised his eyebrows as he turned toward the redhead so elegantly leaning against his doorway. Natasha knew exactly how to sneak up on people and she had _no_ compassion for the poor little scientist with the hart-condition. He glowered pointedly at her and she smiled it away.

"You _gotta_ narrow it down some", huffed Tony. "Because Jarvis is always watching. Fury also always keeps an eye on us. Well. He only has one eye to keep on us, I suppose."

"Someone else. Someone from the outside", whispered Natasha as she approached.

"What... Who do you think?", asked Tony slowly, growing more serious.

"Clint and I have been noticing it lately. Someone watching. When we're out fighting, in the crowds. Not just like the crowd. The same presence. A dangerous presence. Sometimes when we're just out", elaborated Natasha, brows furrowed.

"Any suspicion on _who_ it is?", prodded Tony once more, typing away on a pad to make Jarvis check the security feeds and see if there was anyone who stood out in the crowds.

"We have a lot of enemies", offered Natasha after a moment. "Individually already, but as the Avengers even more so. It may be any number of people. Villains."

"Great. Very helpful", hummed Tony sarcastically. "I'll have Jarvis keep an eye on things and crosscheck for regulars who watch our fights."

"I'm worried. They've been watching for a while now", whispered Natasha.

Tony hummed, eyebrows furrowed. This was more than troublesome. They had enough enemies as was, but the reckless idiots were easy to defeat. Someone who was watching them long-term, making plans...? That was dangerous. They were gathering intel on the Avengers and with intel, one got defeated. If he knew anything, then that was this. Knowledge was power. If this enemy knew to lay low and gather knowledge first, before striking? That was dangerous.

"Gwen's science fair is coming up", offered Natasha to change the topic.

"Mh? Yeah. Yeah, it is", grunted Tony, nodding slowly. "She's prepared."

"You still haven't found out what she can do", whispered Natasha as she watched Tony's face.

"She's extremely strong. She has speed. But... we don't know if that's it", shrugged Tony. "I don't like not knowing. I'd rather have nice, neat stats on all her powers."

"She's training agility with me – she's good, the ballet helped. She learns how to shoot from Clint, trains her super-strength with Steve. She's well-covered, even if she develops any additional powers", stated Natasha casually. "Don't fret so much, it'll give you wrinkles."

Tony glared offended at her. It wasn't that he was fretting. Maybe... He just needed a project. Maybe focusing on himself was slowly growing more frustrating. Maybe he needed something _more_.

/break\

The Winter Soldier knew that the Widow had noticed him. Perhaps the Hawk too. He didn't quite know why he was watching them to begin with. The Avengers were a threat to HYDRA. That must be it. He was watching them because they were a threat. But... there had been no explicit order to do it. Ever since he had seen them during a prior mission, he found himself drawn there. HYDRA reset him, regularly, but not _always_. It would leave his brain too scrambled, he would be useless to them then. They only did it when putting him away into cryo for a longer period. These days – ever since the Avengers had formed – HYDRA always had something to do for him. And whenever he could manage, he would sneak away to watch the Avengers from a distance. Sometimes at their home, sometimes when they did ordinary people things, sometimes during a fight against a villain.

It didn't feel like watching a potential target, that was the confusing part. The Captain, he stirred something in the Winter Soldier, feelings of fond exasperation. _Brat_. Brother. Brotherly feelings. Long-buried, something he shouldn't feel or remember. It drew him in. And then he watched.

Watched not just the Captain, watched the others too. Watched the snarky one with the honey-golden eyes, watched his banter with the Captain, felt reminded of a life that wasn't his to remember anymore, something that felt inherently not like the Winter Soldier's but still like... _his_.

He tilted his head as he watched the honey-eyed one and the child. The child was new. The Avengers hadn't had such a young one the last time he had spied on them. She was short, blonde, with pink-dyed tips, laughing with the honey-eyed one and the other two scientists. The Winter Soldier knew not to underestimate the scientists – one could turn very big and very green and the other, he had seen, was capable of lifting the powerful hammer, which was apparently so special, she had not shared this knowledge even just with her team. And the honey-eyed one, the one whose mind had built these fantastic things. The flying suit. It reminded him of something, but the Winter Soldier wasn't sure what it was, something with cars, something that made him smile.

/break\

"You're _really_ living with the Avengers. Like. The real actual Avengers."

Gwen rolled her eyes, but Tony could tell she was a bit proud as her friends gathered around them. "Tony, that's my friends. Peter Parker, Ned Leeds and Miles Morales. The nerd squad."

"Well then, I am looking forward to seeing your contributions to the science fair", laughed Tony.

He shook hands with the kids and with the one parent who had tagged along. May Parker.

"Can't shake hands for too long. Promised Rio to film _everything_ that Miles does. She hates that she's missing this for a long shirt at the hospital", sighed May.

"Good parents who care for their nerdy off-springs. I like you and this Rio whom I haven't met yet. We need to do some networking. Still new to this whole... parent-thing", laughed Tony.

May lowered the camera enough to look at Tony with a smile. "You got the most important thing down. You're _showing interest_ in the thing your kid is passionate about. A kid needs to feel taken care for, _loved_ , and a very big part of that is to make them feel like you support them and their interests. Jefferson's gonna burst through here as soon as he can get his lunch break and he's gonna cheer Miles on loud enough for himself and his wife."

"Miles did all of our designs", offered Peter eagerly. "He's an artist. I mean, he totally did his share of the science parts too, but he's really good at... making the science look good too, you know?"

"I don't. Why don't you show me, Mister Parker?", asked Tony amused, motioning at them.

Him, Darcy and Bruce fell back, to walk beside May Parker as the kids enthusiastically led them toward their table with their project, explaining everything. Thor was off-world and Steve, Nat and Clint were on a SHIELD mission. But they were going to record everything for them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter, SHIELD falls and Bucky joins the fun instead of just watching! ;)


	5. The Fall of SHIELD

_Chapter 5: The Fall of SHIELD_

SHIELD fell. Tony still couldn't quite grasp how that had happened. And on the day he was all the way in China for a business pitch with Pepper. When word from Nat reached them, Pep thankfully understood that Tony had to return as soon as possible. Thor was, once again, off-planet – well, he was a prince-soon-to-be-king, he did have bigger obligations to take care of than protect Midgard 24/7. Clint, Nat and Steve were stranded alone, had sought out refuge with Steve's running buddy of all people. That was how Tony found them, cowering with Sam Wilson.

"Tony. You finally made it."

"Aw, cousin Shar, you've grown so much since joining SHIELD", cooed Tony playfully.

" _Cousin_?", echoed Steve disturbed, looking between Sharon Carter and Tony.

"Yes, I can draw you the family tree later on. Tell me what's going on", dismissed Tony.

He was hugging Sharon, surveying the room. He noted that only Steve, Clint, Natasha, Sharon and Sam – well, who he assumed to be Sam, considering he had never met the guy before – were there. Steve had mentioned Sam a couple times, a guy he was running with, who apparently led a PTSD group that he had gotten Steve to join lately. Which was good. Steve definitely had a lot of PTSD from WWII to deal with and the groups seemed to be helping him.

"Fury's dead. Or not. Who knows with him", muttered Clint.

"We're being hunted. By the Winter Soldier", sighed Sharon. "Who is not a myth."

"Never thought he was. Aunt Peggy always believed in him", offered Tony.

Which was when things slotted into place for Steve, judging by his face. Sharon's aunt was Peggy Carter, who had been Tony's godmother. Thankfully, Steve managed to shake it off.

"We need a plan. HYDRA has infiltrated SHIELD", started Steve, all serious business.

Tony leaned in, listening closely to the recaps of what he had missed.

/break\

Taking HYDRA out of SHIELD was kind of hard when all of SHIELD was infested. Steve wanted to info-dump everything on the internet, expose everything – which would have exposed the identities of all SHIELD agents. Thankfully, Tony was there to stop him. They downloaded the info, to have Jarvis go through it, to find every single HYDRA agent inside of SHIELD and track down every active SHIELD agent so they could be extracted from their missions.

The real problem was the Winter Soldier though. James Buchanan Barnes. Bucky. Steve's friend.

"Steve. We'll work together to find your friend", promised Tony. "Jarvis is up and running, searching all cameras everywhere for the Winter Soldier. We'll find him."

"I know. I know Jarvis is brilliant and can do this. I know. I just...", muttered Steve.

"How about you go out on a run, Cap?", asked Tony with a small smile. "Get rid of some energy."

Steve glowered, but he knew Tony was right. He was tense these days, ever since SHIELD had fallen. Tony sighed and leaned back in his chair, watching Cap walk away. His eyes wandered. The office he was sitting in was above, glass-walls, overseeing the training area where Sharon and Natasha were sparring. She wasn't an Avenger – Sharon. But she was one of the now unemployed agents that the Avengers were now employing. It helped. There were enough things not large enough to require the Avengers. Now, the Avengers ran independent from SHIELD because there was no more SHIELD. Tony smiled faintly as he turned some more to look down into the common lab, where Jane was working with Gwen on something.

"Sir. I have found something among the files we downloaded that... will require your attention."

Tony frowned as Jarvis brought up a file dated December 16th 1991.

/break\

"Where is he? What happened?", asked Rhodey with concerned eyes.

"He's been locked into his workshop for the past three days. He hasn't done that in so long", sighed Bruce. "That's why... That's why I called you. Steve, Nat and Clint aren't here, they're out taking care of the exposed SHIELD agents. They're very rarely here since the fall of SHIELD. I've been keeping an eye on Tony, I thought... maybe it's an invention binge, maybe he's so engrossed in encoding the HYDRA files, but it's been too long now."

"Doctor Foster", greeted Rhodey as Jane entered the room.

"We figured we'd... give you some privacy. Bruce and me take Gwen out for dinner", offered Jane.

"Gwen. Right. After I took care of the trouble-maker, I'd like to meet the kid", grunted Rhodey.

He smiled faintly at the couple, watching how they left, holding hands. Then he made his way to the workshop. He had an override code – the only override code, really. For cases like this.

"Tony. Tony, please-", started Rhodey, voice wavering as he found Tony.

This was terrifying. Tony looked like he hadn't slept in days, standing in front of what looked like a conspiracy board. Pictures, cases, notes, all linked with yarn. At the center, a picture of Bucky Barnes. Rhodey recognized the guy from history text books and museum trips.

"What... What is this?", whispered Rhodey.

"Steve's best buddy killed my parents", replied Tony with a manic grin, pointing at a picture of Howard and Maria Stark. "So, at first, I wanted to get drunk. God, I wanted to get drunk _so badly_. Then I wanted to yell at Steve, for... I don't know what. He can't have _possibly_ known, I was the one to download the files, I was right there. We were still going through the files here. Jarvis only just found it. So, after a lot of screaming and... destroying things... I decided to investigate."

Rhodey slowly approached, looking closer at the board. It was a chronology of some sorts, starting with the fall of Sergeant Barnes from the train – when he had _died –_ and ending only days ago, the fall of SHIELD. Rhodey's eyes dragged all over that timeline in awe.

"Bucky Barnes is the Winter Soldier. I brought up every single Winter Soldier sighting, lined it up, I cross-referenced his MO with other unsolved cases, all the way back to the 40s. Pretty sure there are many where he was actually sneaky enough to not get caught, but this is... a collection of his work. I have yet to figure out how he has been alive and young for this long, but... he's been working for HYDRA. Killing for HYDRA. Judging by what Steve said, that the guy didn't even recognize him, I am... assuming brainwashing of sorts. Been trying to track him, based on his past."

"Tones", whispered Rhodey softly as he reached Tony, pulling him into a tight hug.

"...He killed my mom", whispered Tony in a small voice.

His voice broke before he sobbed. Clearly, he had thrown himself into his work instead of trying to grieve. Grieving someone he had grieved many years ago. He clung onto Rhodey as he cried. Cried and cried for what felt like hours. Rhodey just held him, tightly, soothing him.

"What do you plan on doing when you find him?", asked Rhodey, voice low.

"I... don't know", admitted Tony. "I just... know that he need to be taken off the streets. As long as he is under the control of HYDRA, he's a threat. I... I've been hiding here, because I can't _look_ at Steve, how do I tell him that his best friend killed my parents?"

"I'm going to stay a while. Help out. I got leave", whispered Rhodey.

"You're the best, Rhodey", mumbled Tony, burying his face in Rhodey's chest.

/break\

After the fall of SHIELD, Steve often headed out with the Falcon as his partner. Sam had somehow become a part of Team Save Stranded SHIELD Agents. He also helped in the search for one Bucky Barnes. The whole team understood what Steve was going through, helped as best as they could. The team was there for each other. Not just to face danger, but to face _life_. Granted, the whole Hydra debacle led to the end of SHIELD as it was and changed their routine entirely, but that made them even happier to have their tower, to have a base to connect and root them, not related to SHIELD. Maria Hill joined them permanently, with SHIELD being completely gone, she was kind of out of a job and she had been working with them before.

"I've been... thinking... I... We need to talk, Steve."

Steve raised one eyebrow at that, looking up from where he was sitting at the table as Tony entered the kitchen. In general, it was a good thing when Tony was thinking. Brilliant things were born when Tony Stark put his mind to good use. But he didn't look like he had _invented_.

"What about?", inquired Steve as Tony collapsed on the chair next to him.

"Coffee first. Trip, coffee", grunted Tony, holding his hand out and making grabby-motions.

Trip the coffee-machine chirped in reply and only moments later, Tony had a steaming cup of coffee in his hand. Something that never ceased to amaze Steve. That Tony had created sentient life. Dummy the helpful arm and Jarvis the AI butler of the tower, every mechanical device in the Avengers Tower had a personality. The machines spoke in chirps and squeaks and such, electronic noises, noises only Tony seemed to fully understand though Steve had seen Natasha try to decipher them too. It engaged and intrigued her spy-mind to decipher this code.

Steve ran his thumb absentmindedly along Trip's frame, causing the coffee-machine to click happily. He understood that now. Those weren't machines. They were more like pets. Their intelligence-level wasn't equal to Jarvis, but it was still enough to difference them from normal machines. With that mindset, Steve had managed to get used to them. The coffee-machine was like a little kitten, the toaster was a puppy. It worked. Steve got along pretty well with Tony's mechanical pets. Clint still sometimes edged on with the toaster though.

"He killed my parents", whispered Tony softly, startling Steve. "Your Bucky. My parents were killed by the Winter Soldier. It's... been among the files, the ones we got from HYDRA."

Steve stared at him and slowly, he realized something. "Is... that why you've been avoiding me?"

"Because I didn't know how to... tell you that", whispered Tony, motioning for Steve to follow. "And it's not just my parents. I... reconstructed a timeline. He killed _so many_ people, Steve."

Steve. Tony was always quippy with the nicknames, but if he used someone's actual name? That usually meant he was being very serious. Which, Steve appreciated, because this _was_ serious."

"W... What are you saying, Tony?", asked Steve softly as they entered the workshop.

"I understand that you want to bring your friend back, Steve. But I think you need to know, to realize, that... maybe you _can't_ ", replied Tony, turning to look at Steve with soft, pained eyes. "Either he was brainwashed into this, or he flipped sides. In one of these scenarios, he _has_ to be held responsible for his crimes. And in the other... he may be too far gone to be helped."

"No",grunted Steve firmly. "No. He... He recognized me. I _know_ he did. He saved me. He's still in there, _Tony_ , you have to _believe me_ , I know he's still in there."

Tony gritted his teeth and averted his eyes from the sad puppy-dog eyes. "Steve, you _need_ to brace yourself for the worst-case scenario. I love the optimism, you know I do, but..."

"I will... I will try to brace myself, but _promise_ me we do everything we can. If he's... There is no way he did this willingly, he would have never killed your parents – we were _friends_ with Howard. He wouldn't have killed his _friend_. Please, Tony, I know it. I _know_."

Heaving a sigh, Tony motioned for Steve to step up to the workbench. "I am... working on something that should help with brainwashing. But we _still_ need to find him first."

"We will", declared Steve seriously before softening a little. "I... I'm sorry. I know there was no love lost between you and your father, but..."

He looked guilty. And it hurt Tony. Tony didn't know how to make it better. He had channeled all his energy into tracking the past and present of the Winter Soldier, making something to fix him. Tony didn't know what he was going to feel once he had nothing to do, once Bucky Barnes would be here. He didn't know what he'd feel about that then. For now, he had work to do.

/break\

Rhodey liked the girl. Gwen. She reminded him of a younger Tony. So he had been more than happy to go and pick her up from her friend's, give them some time to be alone so he could really talk to her. Sure, she could theoretically walk back home all on her own. But with the mind-controlled or brainwashed Winter Soldier on the loose, the Avengers wanted to be extra careful and the kid was the weakest link among them. So Rhodey had volunteered to pick Gwen up from the Parkers. Bruce and Jane were on a date, Tony was buried in his work, trying not to think about what would happen when they found the Winter Soldier, Steve was out with Sam and Sharon, following a lead on said Winter Soldier. Thor was less and less frequently on Earth nowadays, from what Rhodey heard, he had his duties on Asgard to fulfill. Straightening, Rhodey knocked.

"Hell... o..." Started the beautiful brunette woman who had opened the door.

After she looked at him, she straightened and brushed her hair out of her face, smiling at him. Well, that was subtle. Rhodey smiled, a bit flustered and very flattered. It had been a while since he had last taken some me-time – flirted, hooked up, even more since he had a steady girlfriend. Between the military, War Machine/Iron Patriot and trying to help Tony, he was stretched thin.

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Parker. I'm-", started Rhodey with a charming smile.

"Colonel James Rupert Rhodes", gasped a very eager teen. "War Machine."

Rhodey blinked as, one by one, teens popped up behind Mrs. Parker, who smiled. "Miss Parker. Or May, if you may. And yes, I do know who you are. But..."

"I'm here to pick up Gwen", offered Rhodey, spotting the blonde girl.

"I don't need to be picked up", groaned Gwen embarrassed. "No one else is being picked up by their parents, or guardians, or whatever. You don't need to _babysit_ me."

May too gave Rhodey a curious look. "Why don't you come in for a tea. The kids were still just in the middle of something. Miles... pick your jaw up from the floor, it's rude to stare."

The boy who had gasped out Rhodey's name earlier now ducked away flustered, followed by the other two boys and Gwen. Rhodey gladly followed May into the kitchen.

"What's going on?", asked May more seriously once the kids were gone.

"I assure you, everything is alright", promised Rhodey smoothly.

"Yeah, not buying this. I've befriended Tony and Jane over the past few months now. And Gwen's normally very much okay to come and go on her own. So why the extra protectiveness? Not to mention, you are not an Avenger. So if they're getting _backup_... I saw the one with the wings and the blonde one is new too. Something's going on, I'm not daft", huffed May pointedly.

Rhodey loved a clever woman. "There may be... someone out there with a personal vendetta against the Avengers. We're working hard on capturing them, but until then, we just... want to make sure Gwen is safe. In fact, I think it would be safer that, if she is over, you would have some... personal protection. Please, feel free to call me. If you see something strange or suspicious too."

He wrote down his number on a notepad laying on the table. May smiled, tucking her hair behind her ear as she accepted the piece of paper. The smile turned more playful as she looked at Rhodey.

"Can I call even if there is... no immediate danger?", asked May.

"Well. If you... felt like... going out, to a restaurant, you could... call me and I could... accompany you. To make sure you're safe", offered Rhodey, a bit awkwardly.

"I will keep that in mind, Colonel Rhodes", hummed May, looking pleased.

"James, please. Or Rhodey", corrected Rhodey with a charming smile.

/break\

Clint had a fall-guy for the coffee-machine now. Well, fall-girl. Jane was an angel, who was willing to make Clint coffee and he loved her for it. Admittedly, the tower was by now so full, it wasn't hard to get someone else to make him coffee – there had been six Avengers when they started, now there were Jane, Darcy and Gwen, currently also Rhodey, Sam was spending a lot of time here too ever since he helped out, Maria and Sharon were working from the tower too. Clint smiled pleased as he cradled his coffee in his hands, legs pulled up against his chest. Thor was making breakfast – he had just returned from Asgard again and decided to celebrate by making a feast, which Clint always appreciated. He used the opportunity to catch Thor up on everything that had happened.

"And you think that... Steve's friend, he was controlled, like you were by Loki?", asked Thor.

"...Yes. Kind of", grunted Clint, voice cracking at the reminder.

He was in therapy about the whole ordeal, but it still stung to remember it. Though the control may be more similar than they thought for now. After all, the tesseract had been in HYDRA possession before. Perhaps they had used it to control the Winter Soldier. Clint's thoughts were interrupted as Natasha joined them. She sat down next to Clint, pressing a gentle kiss against his temples.

"So we're trying to find Steve's friend and help him, as we helped you, break the mind-control?"

That was enough to tell Nat what they had been talking about. Her eyes softened as she looked at Clint, wrapping an arm around her partner in silent comfort. Clint gladly leaned into her.

"We _will_ help him. Tony's already working on something to help. We just... need to find him."

"Urgh, I hope you find him soon", groaned Gwen as she entered the kitchen. "Look. I totally feel for Steve and his friend. But this whole... helicopter-parenting you guys have going on ever since is driving me up the wall. I want to go out with my friends _without_ an Avenger hovering by."

"We have to be careful, Gwen", whispered Natasha gently.

Clint knew Nat was soft for the little spider who danced ballet with such passion. She saw a lot of herself in the girl and, more importantly, she _didn't_ see a lot of herself – the darker parts – in her. She wanted to protect Gwen, to allow her to love and enjoy ballet, live a safe life.

Sudden alarm-bells disturbed the morning. Thor frowned and put down the pan, turning off the stove, while Natasha and Clint immediately got up, pushing Gwen protectively between them.

"Jarvis. What's going on?", called Natasha out.

"An intruder has breached into the Avengers section of the tower. I am blind, I can not see him."

"Where is he now?", asked Clint, looking around for weapons.

"The elevator. It is moving up toward you now", replied Jarvis calmly.

"Thor, can you take Gwen? Take her to the hanger, somewhere away for now", requested Natasha.

Thor simply nodded, knowing the child's safety was the most important thing when someone was invading their home. The rest of the Avengers would be able to handle the attack on their own. But he? He could, if things became explosive, fly off with Gwen, keep her safe. Gwen didn't even protest. An attack on the tower was apparently enough to have even her accept retreat. Clint and Natasha all the while made their way to the elevator door. Steve came in from the balcony, where he must have sketched – he loved sketching the skyline in the morning. Tony, Bruce and Jane emerged from the common labs, Tony already having a gauntlet around his hand while Bruce had his arms around Jane in a protective manner. After a quick glance did Natasha convey where Thor and Gwen had gone and Bruce quickly took Jane with him to follow them. It was better to _not_ unleash the Hulk inside the Avengers Tower. Finally, the the elevator doors opened and silence fell.

"I... I need help. I keep seeing your face. Why do I keep seeing your face?"

"B... Bucky...", whispered Steve, voice wavering as he approached the man in the elevator.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter, we're going to work on healing Bucky!


	6. Giving Hope

_Chapter 6: Giving Hope_

As long as the triggers were in place, James Barnes was a danger. Everyone was acutely aware of that and maybe Barnes himself the most. Tony the second most. The scene of Barnes killing Maria replayed in Tony's mind every time he looked at Barnes' face. Steve was hovering. He hovered _a lot_. Barnes came to crash at Steve and Sam's floor for now – the whole HYDRA thing had kind of accidentally led to the destruction of Sam Wilson's home and considering the wings and help he had offered during that phase, Tony had offered a place to stay. The floors were large enough. Sam was grateful and he easily integrated into the Avengers' training schedule and home life.

Barnes didn't integrate as easily. He stayed on Steve's floor nearly all the time. Both Barnes and Steve had agreed to let Jarvis keep a close eye on the Winter Soldier. Barnes knew, he knew he was dangerous, he knew things could easily go South. It eased Tony's nerves a little to know Barnes was self-aware in this regard. Still, Barnes' presence set him on edge.

"You need a break, Tones", pointed Rhodey out.

Tony frowned as he watched Rhodey pace in front of the mirror, just to head back to the closet and pick a different shirt. Fifth one in the past ten minutes. He kept turning and checking himself and then going back to the closet. If Tony's mind hadn't been as distracted by the specs he was working on, he would have noticed the oddity of that behavior sooner.

"What's with the fashion show, platypus?", asked Tony, trying to distract his best friend.

"I... Ah. When I dropped Peter off at his aunt's after the junior scientists last wrecked havoc in the labs, May Parker, Peter's aunt, she might have, perhaps... asked me out."

Rhodey looked flustered as he scratched his cheek. Oh that was an interesting turn. Tony grinned and sat up some. He had heard from Rhodey about May. A lot. A lot more than Rhodey was aware of most likely; he kept talking about how pretty May was, how sweet her smile was, what a hard-working single mother she was for her nephew. Rhodey had been gushing for _weeks_.

"Rhodey has a girlfriend, Rhodey has a _girlfriend_ ", chimed Tony in a sing-sang voice. "Rhodey and May sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g. Jarvis! Call Pepper, I need to tell her!"

"Tony!", exclaimed Rhodey exasperated. "Please. Give me a date or two before _I_ tell the rest of the family. See where things go, if they go anywhere. Don't put so much pressure on it."

Tony pouted, but he understood where Rhodey was coming from. "I'm happy for you, Rhodey-bear. You _deserve_ someone to be happy with. Oh! Also, I like Peter and once you and May get married, he is like legally my nephew and I can be the fun, cool uncle!"

"Tones, you and me aren't _legally_ brothers", noted Rhodey fondly.

"Bold of you to assume that your mother hasn't long-since adopted me", countered Tony dryly.

The look on Rhodey's face showed that he wasn't entirely sure just how serious Tony was about that. Better leave it at that. Grinning to himself, Tony returned to his schematics. The tablet in his hand projected a model of a metallic arm up. No longer distracted by questions about his private life, Rhodey stepped closer to take a look at what Tony was working on. He sighed.

"You need a break, Tones", repeated Rhodey pointedly. "You're working on an arm for Barnes. When you're not fine-tuning that thingamajig that's supposed to un-brainwash Barnes. He is _not_ your responsibility. You let him live here. You don't need to spend _every_ waking moment on him."

"He was a prisoner. He was brainwashed to be turned into a weapon", whispered Tony softly. "When I was in Afghanistan, in that cave, they tortured me, tried to break me, tried to make _me_ their weapon. I got lucky. I got out. He was with HYDRA for _decades_ , Rhodey."

"You're working yourself into the ground for the guy and you're not sleeping because his presence still haunts you", countered Rhodey pleadingly. "You need to get out of the house."

Sighing, Tony put the tablet away. "You win. I'll take the kids on a little vacation. Because it's not just me. Gwen here, with him... I don't... He can't be trusted _yet_. Which is why I am working so hard. The 'thingamajig' is done. A professional therapist will have to use it, because it requires delicacy and therapy. I'll pack Gwen and leave for two weeks, it _is_ a school vacation. And if I take Petey-pie... you and May would have the place _all_ to yourselves for two entire weeks."

He grinned and wiggled his eyebrows, prompting Rhodey to throw a pillow at his head.

/break\

The Avengers had an assembly in the living room. Bruce and Jane sat together on the armchair, Bruce having a hand resting on Jane's lap, Jane's fingers interlaced with his. Darcy stood behind them, arms crossed on top of the backrest. Sam, Clint, Natasha and Gwen sat on the couch. Naturally, Steve was pacing tensely, knowing exactly what this was about. From his spot on the other couch with Thor and Rhodey, Tony could see that Barnes himself was nowhere to be found. The two had a mutual avoidance of each other, for the same reason.

"I called Helen Cho and a colleague whom we trust. They'll start Barnes' treatment next week."

"So... you... won't administer the treatment yourself", asked Steve with the sad puppy-dog eyes.

"I'm not that kind of doctor, Cap", offered Tony with a chuckle. "I made the device, I explained it to Helen in great detail. What Barnes needs is a therapist to walk him through the trauma linked to the triggers to _undo_ them, as well as a medical doctor to supervise his vitals and make sure nothing goes wrong. I'm not needed. So I'll be taking a vacation. Rhodey promised to stick around, take my spot if Iron Man is needed – War Machine will be a very good replacement."

"A... vacation?", echoed Natasha wondrously.

"Yeah. I'm packing all the squishy, little humans and we're going to San Francisco."

"Do I count as a squishy, little human? Do I get a vacation?", asked Darcy excitedly.

"Yes, you do", confirmed Tony with an amused, little smile. "Darce, Jane, Gwen – don't pout, you may have powers, but you still can't fully control them. Brucie, care to join us? Little science trip to San Francisco? There's something I am dying to check out."

"Well, a vacation does sound nice", mused Bruce, eyes finding Jane.

"Oh, come on. They're just gonna be lovey-dovey all day", sighed Gwen exasperated.

"We're going to have all the sciencey fun. You get to pack all your friends, who get permission from their guardians, to come along too", offered Tony, making a grand gesture.

"Ye—es!", exclaimed Gwen, getting her phone out to text the boys immediately.

"This is going to be _epic_!", cheered Darcy. "It's been so long since I was last on a vacation."

Tony smiled amused at them, before catching Steve's eyes. The blonde looked guilty, knowing that Tony was basically fleeing his own home because he didn't feel safe right now. But that had been Tony's _choice_. He had allowed Barnes to stay here and he _wanted_ to help Barnes. He'd just like to skip the experimental phase before Barnes would be fully himself again.

"Look, I'll be frank. This isn't safe", declared Tony honestly. "Confronting Barnes with his triggers has a great likelihood of actually triggering him and we may have a murderous HYDRA assassin on the loose here. I'm not risking the girls, or me. So we'll take a vacation and I _trust_ you professional spies, soldiers and our local god to keep him under control."

"Sounds like a good plan then", noted Sam, one eyebrow raised as he looked at Steve.

"I... Yeah. I trust this to work. It's StarkTech, of course it will. And when you get back, I can introduce you to Bucky, the real Bucky", nodded Steve with a small half-smile.

Tony returned that half-smile, heart warmed by the trust Steve put into him.

/break\

"Where are we going, Mister Sta—Tony?", asked Peter eagerly as he followed Tony.

They had arrived in San Francisco only hours ago, setting up their rooms in the fancy hotel Tony had booked for them. Darcy and Gwen shared a room, so did Bruce and Jane (to tease them, Tony had ordered some rose-petals on the bed), while the three boys bunked together. Miles, Ned and Peter had been _unbearable_ during the flight already, so much teen excitement bundled together.

"Pym Tech", declared Tony. "They're doing some... fascinating experiments these days and I've been looking forward to meeting the head of the science department."

"Trying to spoof them?", asked Ned curiously.

"Something like it. Making her an offer to work for the Avengers, at least."

He grinned at the kids. The grand tour of Pym Tech was something that the kids were going to enjoy, those little science nerds. Miles and Gwen were already running ahead. It was nice that their parents had given them the all clear on the vacation. While the kids would be on that tour, Tony was going to talk to Hope van Dyne. Daughter of Hank Pym, who inexplicably had a long-lasting feud with Tony's father. Maybe it was time for the children to mend the bridge; considering Hope went by her mother's last name and not the name of the business she was running was very telling.

"Miss van Dyne. I'm your lunch-date today", announced Tony with a charming smile.

She _had_ agreed to meet with him, which was a good sign. Smiling politely, she followed Tony toward the in-house restaurant for their lunch meeting. She watched him, _waited_.

"So your father is a great disappointment and your _brilliant_ mind lives in his shadow", started Tony. "That sounds familiar to me. But did you know that your parents also were superheroes?"

He pushed a file over toward her. Pictures of Ant-Man and the Wasp – Hank and Janet Pym. He had found the files among the huge info-dump they had gotten from the SHIELDRA outfall. The guarded look on Hope's face showed that she _knew_ about this. Interesting.

"Why would I trust you, Stark?", asked Hope curiously.

"I know about stepping out of your father's shadow. Being a hero of your own", offered Tony slowly. "I can see the look on your face, Miss van Dyne, you _have_ considered this. Let me guess: Daddy dearest is not a fan of the idea of his darling daughter being a hero?"

The silence and the furrowed eyebrows spoke volumes. Tony offered her a smirk. Hope's mouth was a thin line, lips pressed together as she held onto the files in front of her.

"Why are you here, Stark?", asked Hope blankly.

"Because you are a _brilliant_ woman, working in her father's shadows while trying to step away from it – your name, it's a clear give-away. I'm offering you a place to fully step away from it. Put that mind of yours to good work for the good of the entire world. Become an Avenger. I know you're working on your father's shrinking science – which also tells me you two aren't on good terms, otherwise you'd have his input on the matter. We have more and better means and... if you want to fight the good fight through more than just science, we offer you that too."

Neither of them touched their food as they stared each other down. The tension only broken when Darcy Lewis made an entrance. She put down her bags and sat down next to Tony.

"Man, this city is crazy. Gwen texted me you guys are here. Thank you for being at the _restaurant_. Food! I am starving and my feet are killing me and who—o is your gorgeous new friend?"

Tony smiled bemused at her as he turned from Darcy to Hope. "Hope van Dyne, Darcy Lewis."

Darcy smiled brightly and tilted her head as she shook Hope's hand. "A _pleasure_ to meet you."

"...Likewise", replied Hope with a certain amount of befuddlement.

"Darcy is in charge of the Avengers PR and social media. Also a lot of babysitting for our collectively shared adopted daughter Gwen. The Avengers are more than just heroes, we're a... family", tagged Tony on after a moment of watching the women. "You would be working _very_ closely with her, if you consider my offer, Miss van Dyne."

Hope turned to glare at him at that, though then she was quickly distracted by Darcy starting to talk a mile an hour about being an Avenger and about Gwen. Well, that was a sales-pitch if Tony ever heard him. Though the assets Darcy was showing off with that low-riding shirt seemed to fascinate Hope far more than the words spoken. Well, who would have thought that bringing their local lesbian along would be actually useful in recruitment?

/break\

Bucky. It was what Steve Rogers kept calling him, but slowly, he started to remember Bucky. Every day, he had two sessions with his doctors and the device Stark had made for him. Stark had made a device for him, even though the Winter Soldier had killed his parents and _he didn't understand this_. But then he saw all those people living here, in Stark's home. He had observed them. The way they bickered in the kitchen together, in their silly pajamas, sharing dinner, movies, strategic meetings, training sessions, a... teenager. The child. Gwen Stacy. They helped her with her homework and with figuring out her powers. This was confusing. They were more a family unit than a strategic team. They _helped_ each other, off the field. And for some reason, they wanted to help him.

He had had four days' worth of sessions with his doctors now. Unraveling his past, tracing his steps back to the triggers and trying to undo their effect on him. It was a slow process – well, it was a fast process considering how many decades he had had the triggers, but knowing there was a way to undo them, it made him impatient. They couldn't tackle multiple ones in a day; the risk of actually triggering the Winter Soldier was too great. One trigger at a time. Agonizingly slow.

A part of him – the Winter Soldier part – hated that he didn't have his arm anymore. The archer had quipped about literally disarming him, the first night he had been at the tower. But he understood, the scattered part of his brain that remembered a life before the Winter Soldier understood just how dangerous his arm made him. Also it hurt. Stark had taken it with him to take it apart, analyze him and 'make him a better one', for some reason that he, once again, couldn't fathom. Another part of him, the part reluctantly aware of the fact that he was a human being, was glad to be rid of the weapon and the pain that came with the heavy piece of junk. They had removed the plate on his shoulder and Doctor Cho had carefully checked it out. It was infected, it needed to heal first. So for now, he only had one arm. Which was both good and bad, because he was less of a danger for those trying to help him, but also _he had lost his greatest weapon for self-defense_.

"You look better", commented the widow in that smooth, curious voice of hers.

He spoke, sometimes, not much, no long-winding conversations, but over the past few weeks, he had at least started to speak on occasion, when spoken to. Mostly by Steve, the widow or the falcon, who lived with Steve (and with him now, it seemed). Blinking slowly, he looked at her.

"How?", he asked, because he _felt_ like crap right now.

Sleep was even harder now, because the sessions brought memories to the forefront of his mind. Memories of people he had killed and torture he had suffered. He was drained, there was no other word for this. Exhausted. But not ready to give up; he _wanted_ this. Wanted to become better.

"Your eyes look haunted", was the reply he got, which was even more confusing. "They were blank when we first met. No remorse, no compassion, only the mission. You _feel_ again, which means you're regaining your humanity, which means... you're getting better."

He grunted at that and returned his attention to the cereals he was eating. She was right, he guessed. He was better, in the sense that he felt more _human_ , less like a _weapon_ , like a tool to be used to kill. Only that being human came with _pain_. And exhaustion.

/break\

Hope stared at the picture in her hand. Her mother, in full Wasp regalia. She looked so beautiful, so _powerful_. And so proud. She was proud to be a hero. And Hank, he _never_ spoke of her, he wouldn't allow Hope to be a hero herself. He was thinking about it – about a legacy – she knew that. He wasn't even _considering_ her. And it made her _seethe_ with anger. The same anger that had made her change her name to van Dyne. She had been raised to loathe the Stark name, based on some feud her father had with Tony Stark's father. Tony was his own person. Hope was her own person.

"I did _not_ expect you to invite me to drinks", declared Darcy as she sat down opposite her.

"I want to talk about the Avengers", offered Hope with a smile. "Thank you for coming."

"Aw. The Avengers. I had hoped this was a _date_ ", sighed Darcy with a pout.

Hope stared and blinked, her cheeks heating up a little. "A... date. I... it... could be. Yes?"

When was the last time Hope had been on a _date_? Surely years ago. She was far too busy with work. Darcy offered her a bright grin at that and got more comfortable before ordering a drink.

"Date it is, then. Not like I'm not used to talking about the Avengers. When you work for them and live with them, everything tends to be about the Avengers", joked Darcy. "What do you want to know? Because I can tell you, Thor will _never_ leave a PopTart for you in the kitchen and Clint _never_ cleans up his dirty dishes, he just expects them to magically vanish. But Nat can kill a man with her thighs and watching that is, honestly, worth it. Speaking as a huge lesbian here."

Darcy's grin got broader and she winked at Hope, who simply cleared her throat in amusement. Darcy was cute, not just to look at. A date would be a nice change of pace. Hope smiled softly.

"That's a... good enough start, I suppose. What's it like working with the Avengers?"

Hope had trained her body hard, she was physically ready to become a hero. But more so than that, she would be interested in the Avengers' private science department. Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Jane Foster – that was an impressive line-up and they were only the big names. They ran a proper science department that spanned multiple floors in Stark Tower. A science department that helped all around the world; the Avengers had started to branch out. There were more heroes out in the world – heroes who had been experimented on, had been in accidents or had strange mutations that brought them powers. And the Avengers were recruiting and training them all over the world, loyal former SHIELD agents that now worked for the Avengers had been stationed in all countries that had proven to have superheroes; with the agreement of the local government. Young, inexperienced heroes got the guidance and training that they needed and the funding. A network of heroes was coming to life and Tony Stark had offered her a spot in this network.

/break\

"All work and no play make Tony a dull boy."

Blinking doe-eyed, Tony looked up at Bruce. There was a teasing smile on Bruce's lips as he approached and sat down next to Tony, pointing at the tablet Tony was working on. The new arm.

"You know me, Brucie, my brain always works", chuckled Tony.

"We're on a vacation, Tony", sighed Bruce. "Jane and I took a city tour. We've been on three dates since we got here. Even _Darcy_ went on a date – with Hope van Dyne, though I still have questions as to how she met her. The kids are determined that Alcatraz is haunted and they are building... Ghostbuster gear... to catch the ghosts. Which, by the way, gave Gwen her hero alias."

"Hero alias? She's still a kid!", exclaimed Tony in protest.

"Ghost-Spider", continued Bruce, ignoring Tony entirely. "I like it. Peter had suggested Spider-Woman, Miles had suggested Spider-Girl, but she doesn't want to have her hero identity be defined by being a girl. Ghost-Spider has a nice ring to it, don't you agree?"

"Yes. Very much. I'll change mine to Iron Ghost", huffed Tony. "...The kids are doing _what_."

"Everyone is having _fun_. Only you have been working. Have some fun, Tony."

Fun? Tony quirked a smile and put his tablet away. Maybe he should try that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter, full Bucky-Tony bonding and Bucky getting used to the Avengers!


	7. New Normal

_Chapter 7: New Normal_

"When you said 'vacation', I somehow didn't expect you to come back with a new Avenger."

The look on Steve's face was mostly bemused as he side-eyed Hope, who simply waved in greeting before passing him with a gym-back in her hand. She was following Natasha out of the headquarters to be shown to the gym and for some sparring. Nat had been surprised at the new addition, but was eager to spar against someone new; she had wiped the floor with all the boys often enough at this point. Tony turned around on his chair to look at Steve.

"Focus, soldier boy, focus", huffed Tony, pointing at the screen. "I am explaining your buddy's new arm to you. Hope is one more Avenger to fight at our side! That's good."

"Did you... relax at all during your vacation?", sighed Steve as he stepped up to Tony.

"I helped the kids build their Ghostbuster gear", offered Tony. "That was relaxing."

"Ghost... oh no", grunted Steve before he sighed loudly. "Those news were about _you_ guys. The teenagers breaking into Alcatraz trying to 'capture ghosts'-"

"Focus, Wonder Boy, focus", repeated Tony, pointing at the screen once more. "New arm!"

Shaking his head, Steve obliged to listen to Tony rattle down every function this arm had. Steve listened patiently, as he had listened to the recounting of the two week trip.

"Now, all you need to do is bring your buddy to my workshop and I can install it."

"...What?", asked Steve surprised. "I... but... you want to give him the arm? And... _you_ want to install it? Tony, I understand, I'm sure someone else can-"

"I gotta face him at some point", interrupted Tony with a sigh. "Besides, don't think I haven't kept tabs on him. I talked to Helen about his progress. I know he's gonna need a lot of therapy – I mean, obviously, all things considered – but the triggers have been removed. He's safe to be around."

"I know that, but Tony...", started Steve unsure, eyebrows drawn together.

"How's he doing?", asked Tony instead. "I mean, outside of the... How's he really doing...?"

"I don't know", admitted Steve, looking at his hands. "He has nightmares. He... talks more. About the past too. He remembers. But... he's not the same man anymore. I know that, I'm not blind. He's been through hell, for so many years, he changed. He... prefers to be called James now. I try to keep it in mind, but I still sometimes slip. Bucky's always been... Bucky."

Tony hummed in reply, not looking at Steve. Of course it'd change a man. Afghanistan had changed him, he couldn't imagine how much what Barnes had been through must have changed him. It was good to see Steve accept that though; he guessed that Steve's _own_ therapy was helping with that. Sam's idea. Steve didn't just have his own PTSD to deal with, he also had the survivor's guilt and he had to adjust to the changes of the future. Tony smiled faintly, patting Steve on the back.

"Come on, Cap. Let's fetch your buddy and give him his new arm."

/break\

Tony Stark had very pretty eyes and very cunning fingers. James just sat and observed him curiously. How gentle those fingers were as he fastened the new arm on James' shoulder. The engineer was constantly babbling, had been since James had entered the room. Nervous. Tense. Not comfortable being in a room with James. To show he was no threat, he tried to fold himself as small as possible, which was quite hard considering his size and bulking muscles.

"Why... are you giving me this?", asked James when they tested the arm.

Tony was still working on it, trying to calibrate it for James while James was supposed to try and wiggle his fingers, so Tony knew what to connect. The arm was lighter, James could already tell, the weight on his shoulder, it carried much easier than the bulky old one.

"Because it's easier to do stuff when you have two arms", offered Tony with a smile.

"I am... more of a danger with two arms", pointed James out. "You are... already afraid of me."

"I'm not", started Tony, pausing for a moment to push away and look at James. "I'm not afraid of James Barnes. I'm... wary of the danger the Winter Soldier posed. Which is why we got rid of that. And... I will be haunted by the image of my mother's death for a while to come. But that's _instincts_. My logical brain knows that it wasn't _you_ and that you were _used_. Give my brain some time to adjust and catch up with you not being a danger. Which... something you need to adjust to too, mh? Maybe the two of us can slowly get adjusted to that together."

James felt strangely warm at the smile Tony offered him, so he just nodded awkwardly.

/break\

The new arm was good. It moved more smoothly, it didn't pinch him the way the HYDRA one had because it had only been about practicality and not about his personal comfort. A synthetic skin to make it look as real as possible – no more silver arm as a stark reminder to all the things he had done with that arm. Sam was overseeing James' physical therapy, the adjustment to the arm. Despite being a pain in James' side, Sam was good at his job and understanding. While James was getting used to his arm, he saw Natasha and the new one, Hope, sparring in the other section of the gym. Gwen, the girl, was sitting with them, watching to learn from them.

"You're doing good, Barnes", praised Sam reluctantly. "Need a break?"

James shook his head and returned his focus from the women to Sam. Sam. Names were one of the things he was trying these days, trying to adjust to being among people again. No more falcon and widow. Names. He even tried to socialize more. Sometimes, he ate in the common kitchen. But when it was more than two other people in the room with him, he'd flee still. He suspected that the Avengers had caught on with that, because they usually times it to not crowd him too much. This morning, he had eaten breakfast with Clint and Natasha. Last night, Bruce had heated up left-overs for him and eaten them with James, talking softly about a science project he was working on. They were trying to integrate him into their everyday life. Even Tony.

"The other James is still here", noted James as he watched the entrance.

The man in question walked in, together with Steve. The two men were talking, laughing.

"Rhodey, yeah. He's still sticking around. I suspect the girlfriend. She's cute", replied Sam.

No. No, James knew he was the reason. James Rhodes was protective of Tony, they were friends, old and best friends, the way James and Steve were. Rhodes knew the truth about what the Winter Soldier had done and that was why he was here to begin with; he wasn't an Avenger, not officially. He wanted to protect Tony from the possible threat of the Winter Soldier – even if that threat were only the nightmares and haunting images caused in Tony.

/break\

"Oh. Hey. I... didn't know anyone aside from me was awake."

Tony smiled awkwardly, tapping his fingers against the wall as he stared at James. James, sitting hunched on the counter, eating cereals. He was wearing a Captain America shirt and a messy bun, looking at Tony like he was caught with his hand in the cookie-jar. Cute. Not even remotely like a dangerous assassin. More like an oversized raccoon one would find in their trashcan. Tony's smile turned less awkward at that, it relaxed him somehow. So he approached, went to his coffee-machine to make himself one and put two slices of bread into the toaster.

"I assume you met the kitchen?", asked Tony rhetorically. "Trip and Bobby. They're good to you?"

"Only when Clint isn't around", replied James with a sharp nod. "They have a... feud."

"They do", confirmed Tony, barking out a laugh. "So hey, how's the arm been treating you?"

It had been two weeks now since he had gotten the arm. Instinctively, James lifted his hand up, turning it and balling a fist a few times. He nodded pleased. The arm was good. Very good.

"No problems. It's great", replied James after a moment, noticing an answer was expected.

"You're downright chatty these days, huh", quipped Tony, though the smile on his lips was genuine. "You're settling in well, aren't you? That's good. Very good. Steve's been like an excited young puppy running around all day. It's adorable. I keep wanting to give him treats."

"Golden Retriever", grunted James, earning a confused look from Tony. "Is what we used to call him. Runt of the litter, but that litter was, specifically, a litter of Golden Retrievers."

"Oh. Oh, I can see that. Oh, I _really_ can see that", whispered Tony before laughing.

Genuinely laughing. It was a nice laugh. James liked it. It filled him with that warmth again.

/break\

Tony grinned broadly as he watched the exasperated, flustered look on Steve's face as he walked through the common area. Gwen's laptop was popped open, at the back a sticker. On the fridge in the kitchen, two magnets with similar motifs. Every Avenger he passed was grinning or giggling to themselves. When Steve turned around with his coffee in hand, he froze.

"Tony, that's too much. What...", groaned Steve frustrated.

There was a huge painting on the wall opposite him. Tony smiled brightly, motioning at it.

"Miles made it! It's amazing, isn't it? We _have_ to put it up, to honor him. The kid would be like a _kicked puppy_ if we didn't honor the gift", offered Tony teasingly.

The painting was of a Golden Retriever puppy, proudly holding Cap's shield in his snout as he stood tall, on his head the cowl with the wings. The magnets and the sticker on the laptop were all of a puppy with various Captain America motifs. The other Avengers broke out into laughter.

"Don't blame him. I gave him the idea", interjected James softly.

Steve turned around startled, staring at James, who was leaning against the wall, arms crossed. Even though Tony, Steve, Bruce _and_ Hope were in the kitchen. Slowly, James was getting used to being around more people. But this, even more so? Making _jokes_ like that, with Tony at that? How could Steve be mad at that. Smiling faintly, he sat down and shook his head.

"So you remember _that_ , huh", grunted Steve amused.

"Steve! That is a wonderful mug! The likeness is striking!", exclaimed Thor as he approached.

Frowning, Steve turned his mug around just to see yet another Golden Retriever, this one standing with his paws up, the shield as the tag on his collar. Steve heaved another sigh, shaking his head. He later on stopped finding it as amusing when he found a _Captain Ameri-PAW_ sticker on his shield, a happy puppy poking his head out between the words.

/break\

That had been the beginning of a wonderful friendship. Seeing this side of James had softened Tony up and seeing the way James behaved, it was so very different from the Winter Soldier, it made it easier to separate the two. James was... _soft_. He was all hard muscles, but when he smiled, he was soft. The way his hair fell into his face, his soulful eyes.

"You're not listening to me—e", complained Darcy, slapping him on the arm.

"Ouch. So sorry. Where were you? Hope's biceps or her eyes?", asked Tony teasingly.

Darcy glared and flushed. "I will have you know that I don't _always_ talk about Hope."

"Well then, apologies. What were you saying?", asked Tony more sincerely.

"...I was talking about Hope's thighs in her new suit", grumbled Darcy with flushed cheeks. " _But_ I still don't always talk about Hope! Stop looking at me like that."

Tony smiled bemused at that, nodding in reassurance. Ah, young love. Such a beautiful thing. Tony couldn't remember what that felt like. He paused, blinking slowly as an image of James' shy smile flashed before his eyes. How peculiar, where had that come from...?

"Okay, Miles has his art showing coming up next week", stated Darcy more seriously. "And we, very subtly, invited the people from that fancy art school Miles wants to attend."

She had a sly grin on her lips at that. The Morales family had grown on Tony a lot and while they would never, understandably, accept Tony to actively pull strings, he had talked about this with Rio and if Tony could get the committee to pay attention to Miles, then they'd accept that. After all, they wanted the best for Miles too. But they wanted it to come from Miles' _talent_ , not Stark money. Tony had complete faith in that; Miles was incredibly talented.

/break\

Miles had a lot of talent. James smiled as he looked at the Stevie-puppy on the front of his notebook. Miles had done the designs based on Tony's request and Tony had made it happen for them to find their way onto stickers, notebooks, mugs – and not just for the Avengers' amusement, no, Miles was selling the merch in his online store, which apparently sold well, especially after some promotion from the official Avengers twitter account. A lot of new layers to this world that James had to get used to, but the internet _did_ fascinate him a lot. He had immediately bought a notebook, one with puppy Steve baring his fangs threateningly, the shield strapped to his back. He kept it as his diary; something his therapist had advised him. Note down things about his new life that he liked, or didn't like. His thoughts. To make sense of them.

These days, many of his thoughts circled around Tony Stark, which he couldn't make sense of.

"You... Are you doodling the arc reactor?", asked Gwen curiously.

She sat opposite him at the table, doing her geography homework. James blinked and looked down. Yes, he had doodled the arc reactor in blue pen. Clearing his throat, James closed his notebook.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to, I just caught sight of it and...", started Gwen, looking sheepish.

"It's... okay", assured James. "Not your fault. I have been thinking a lot about him? The arm, the... device that helped heal me. He is on my mind a lot."

"Because you _li—ike_ him", declared Gwen with a broad grin.

"I suppose I do like him for all he has done", agreed James after a moment.

"No", laughed Gwen, shaking her head. "You _like_ -like him. Like, boyfriend material."

"What... makes you think that?", asked James confused.

"It's what I did too", shrugged Gwen, skipping a few pages back in her school notebook.

She turned it around to show it to James. In the corner was a doodle of a little figure with red hair, above it inside a heart GS+MJW, in bright pink and orange colors. James tilted his head curiously.

"See, at first I just... absentmindedly doodled her during class", explained Gwen. "I figured it was, you know, she... stands out. Red hair and all. MJ is in my class and we've been friends for a while, but then I started realizing that she's always on my mind for _other_ reasons."

James hummed curiously at that. Like-like. James remembered like-liking people, back in the day. But he surely couldn't be like-liking Tony Stark. Right...? Frowning, he looked up at her.

"He's a catch. You two have been spending a lot of time together", offered Gwen. "I think you make for a cute couple, you know. Don't overthink things."

Nodding, James accepted that he was getting relationship advise from a fourteen year old.

/break\

Tony smiled to himself as he entered the kitchen. "Fancy meeting you here, again."

Him and James both had bad sleeping patterns. They ran into each other in the kitchen a lot. Just sitting together and talking. Tony had found himself really enjoying that. He enjoyed James' company, he enjoyed being with the other man, talking to him. They even played the occasional prank on Steve these days – much to Steve's utter exasperation. He kept claiming that if he grew gray hair despite the super soldier serum, it would be _entirely_ Tony and James' fault. Tony gladly accepted the blame for that. He smiled as James pushed a mug toward him.

"Made you coffee", whispered James softly, offering a smile in return.

"How are you holding up without Steve?", asked Tony after a moment. "You've been kind of hiding behind him for a long time. This is the first time he left. You doing okay?"

"Steve is... comfort. He is my best friend", replied James. "But I have to learn to live without him at my side at all times. I'm okay. He... needs his own life too, after all."

Steve was on a mission with Clint and Natasha right now, following another lead on another HYDRA base. Tony nodded, glad to hear that James was getting used to doing his own thing, even without Steve protectively hovering by. The smile on his lips turned a little softer.

"Reminds me of Rhodey, after he got me back from Afghanistan. He would _not_ leave my side, at all", whispered Tony softly. "It's good you have your own Rhodey, who'll never let you hanging."

"It is", agreed James with a short nod. "But he made a life for himself in this... world. And he basically put it on hold to babysit me. I need him to get back to it. And I need... my own life."

"You do", agreed Tony encouragingly, patting James on the shoulder. "What would that life of your own entail? You know you're free to stay here. Take your time. Just, putting that out there, in case you think getting your own life would _have_ to include moving out. It can! If that is what you want! I wouldn't want to influence your decision either way, just... giving you... options."

"Will you... Would you...", drawled James, unsure how to put it. "Go out with me?"

"Go out where?", asked Tony with a kind smile. "I can be your company, if you're unsure."

"No. Go out, not just... out, but... a date", tried James again, a little frustrated. "I... know we have a rocky past. I know... but... I like you. Very much. And Gwen tells me not to overthink things."

"You took love-advise from a fourteen year old", grunted Tony amused. "Wait. Me. Really?"

"I know our past, what I – what the Winter Soldier did-", started James once more.

"I _know_ that's not you. I know... You couldn't be more different from the Winter Soldier, James", interrupted Tony gently. "I had problems looking at you at first, I know. But... you, talking, your behavior, your smile... I... There is nothing of the Winter Soldier in you anymore."

James took a stuttering breath. That made his heart feel full, somehow. His therapist kept telling him that, Steve kept telling him that, but they seemed biased. Someone who had been directly affected by the Winter Soldier though? His words meant so much more. Especially since it was _Tony_. Wetting his lips, James watched Tony carefully, waiting.

"A date. Yes. Sure. Okay. I can. Yeah. We can do that", replied Tony after another moment. "If... you're sure? I mean, uh... Just yes. Don't mind the rambling."

"I like when you ramble", argued James softly. "It's very nice."

"Oh. Uh. That's new. I don't hear that often", whispered Tony, lost for words.

The two of them just stared at each other for a long moment, before Tony started to scoot closer toward James. Closer and closer, until they could feel each other's body-heat.

"One condition to dating", whispered Tony as they leaned into each other.

"Anything. What?", asked James, tensing a bit.

"You _have_ to protect me from Steve's shovel-talk", declared Tony, cracking a smile.

James blinked and laughed. "Only if you protect me from Rhodes' shovel-talk."

The two of them leaned even closer into each other, until their lips met in a gentle touch. Tony smiled to himself into the kiss. Well, this was an entirely unexpected outcome, really.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next one's gonna be the epilogue to wrap up the story!


	8. Epilogue: Happily Ever After

_Epilogue: Happily Ever After_

James gasped breathlessly, his fingers buried in Tony's hair, tugging the other closer. The engineer was currently sucking him off with quite some gusto. After the first couple of slightly stilted and awkward dates, the two had found their own rhythm with each other. Including the bedroom, where it had gone far faster than in the date department. James, he knew how his body worked, but words and romantic gestures still took a bit more. Moaning, James pulled Tony off his cock and up to kiss him deeply. Tony laughed softly, pushing James down onto the bed to lay flat. He was hovering over James' hard cock before carefully easing himself onto it, having prepped himself before going down on James. Their sex life went _perfectly_ , really. James took a stuttering breath, grasping the sheets tightly until his knuckles turned white. Tony knew how to take what he wanted and he knew how to make James lose his breath and words. James' hands found Tony's waist to hold onto as his orgasm built up. Tony's own hand started jerking himself off, until the two of them came at nearly the same moment. Tony gasped breathlessly as he collapsed forward on top of James.

"So... that was a good start of the day", whispered Tony, smiling softly to himself.

He was doodling symbols onto James' chest, head turned to look out of the window. James hummed and ran his fingers through Tony's hair, his other arm behind his head as he watched Tony.

"We're going to the movies with Rhodes and May today still, right?", asked James softly.

Rhodey had taken it _incredibly_ well, all things considered. Then again, he had kept an eye on James at all times and he _knew_ that Tony was in no danger from James. The two Jameses had even become friends, sparring on occasion too. Still, _double dates_ with Rhodey! Now if that wasn't the dream come true? Tony smiled to himself as he turned to kiss James' cheek.

"We absolutely are. But I think you should hit the shower, because otherwise Sam will hound you all day long with teasing about running late because of me", hummed Tony.

Every morning, James went out for a jog with Rhodey, Sam and Steve. Rhodey was, by now, a more or less official Avenger, 'on loan' from the military. Which was nice for his budding relationship with May and also for Tony's overall situation, because having Rhodey close always made everything better. Rolling over, Tony watched James head toward the bathroom.

"Hate to see you go, love to watch you leave", sighed Tony. "That is a magnificent ass."

"Thanks. I worked hard for it", chuckled James, winking at Tony over his shoulder.

Rolling over, Tony stretched out. What was his plan for today again...? He wasn't on duty – schedules for Avengers duty were a blessing; if there was anything going on, someone was on call. The others didn't necessarily need to worry, unless it was an actual, big emergency. Those were rare and far in between, really. Tony got to spend his time with the science department and on his work for SI. Which, the work for the science department had become even more fun ever since Hope had joined. She had designed herself a gorgeous black-yellow suit with wings and was an official Avenger now. Their lineup was strong now. And while they had offered James a position too, it had been more out of politeness – after everything he had been through, James just wanted to retire. He was happily taking cooking classes and he liked watching the kids. He was also getting used to this century a lot; so much to learn that HYDRA had never let him learn.

Tony got out of bed and dressed himself before heading out. He smiled softly as he watched Gwen, Miles, Ned and Peter around the table, debating a school project. It was Saturday morning. Thor sat with them, eating a large heap of pancakes and waffles while watching them. When Tony entered the kitchen, he found Clint, Nat, Bruce, Darcy, Hope and Jane at the table, eating breakfast.

He watched Rhodey, Sam and Steve bicker as the three headed out together with James, who waved at Tony with a gentle look on his face. A family. Tony had gathered a family in his home.

_~*~ The End ~*~_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaand that's it. I know it's a bit of a short wrap, but I gotta... I gotta admit I've fallen out of Marvel HARD since starting this fic and I DID want to wrap it and give it a proper end before I lose even the last spark of motivation to do so. It's a shame and also frustrating for me because when I started writing Marvel, I thought this could be my next big fandom that I stick with for a long time, but... the MCU has been very steadily disappointing me, personally, and it made me lose interest and attachment. I'm not ruling out that a new thing may reignite the spark for me, but it also seems too risky and futuristic to bank all my hope on Ms. Marvel and Ironheart. So, sorry for the shortened end, I do still hope you enjoyed it and thank you for reading and even more so for commenting!

**Author's Note:**

> As always, **you can find my updating schedule on my profile**! It tells you the exact date my fics will be updated (all multi-chapter fics are on a Saturday rotation, each story being updated every four weeks)!


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